Fuck I thought this was gonna be about the game Portal, aw well.

>You've watched enough isekai anime to know where this is going. Tell the "god" to go on.

>>4633855
+1
We're listening, God

>>4633855
>>4633867
(Bear with me as I learn the formatting on the board. My first /qst/ quest.)

You listen carefully, if drunkenly, as the shiny portal continues to spit words at you.

"YOUR ANGUISH HAS CALLED OUT TO ME ACROSS THE GREAT ABYSS, AND I HAVE DEIGNED TO USE MY POWERS TO PULL YOU ACROSS IT- YOUR FATE IN THE WORLD YOU LIVE IN IS DOOMED TO FRUSTRATION AND DEEP SORROW."

Well, the voice isn't wrong. Things have been pretty shit.

"THUSLY, I WILL GIVE YOU ONE DAY TO PREPARE. AT THIS TIME TOMORROW, YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED FOREVER TO A WORLD WHICH DOES NOT RESEMBLE YOUR OWN; IT IS MUCH CLOSER TO ONE OF YOUR 'FANTASY' NOVELS. I DO NOT HAVE MUCH MORE TIME TO SPEAK TO YOU OR I WILL OVERTAX THE PORTAL. YOU MAY ASK ONE QUESTION."

>"Can you describe this world a little more?"
>"What do you mean, prepare?"
>"Do you mean I'll never be able to come back?"
>Write in (Keep in mind the limited time!)

>"What do you mean, prepare?
The way I see it, we have an idea of what fantasy novels are like, and we'll be able to figure the world out when we're there. Not being able to come back isn't relevant if our life is already poopoo mcdoodoo, so knowing how to prepare will be our best bet.

Also, no worries about formatting. I'm also running my first /qst/ at the moment and it's taken some getting used to. Thanks for running and looking forward to having fun with ya!

Closing voting in about 45 minutes, so 0800 GMT.

>>4633885
>>"What do you mean, prepare?"

>>4633895
>>4634020

You think for a moment.
"What do you mean, prepare?"

The portal sputters those same black-blue sparks for a moment and spits out a large, square outline on the floor. It flickers, but the energy holds, and the 5 meter by 5 meter box on the ground is clearly marked.

"WITHIN THESE BOUNDARIES, ALL THINGS WILL BE TRANSPORTED- CREATURES, OBJECTS, AND STRUCTURES."

A small, flickering blue orb also plops out of the portal to the ground.

"THIS ARTIFICE ALLOWS YOU TO MOVE THE PORTAL AND THE BOX AT YOUR LEISURE. JUST THINK THE COMMAND AT IT AND YOUR WILL SHALL BE DONE. IT IS ADVISED YOU NOT BRING ANYONE WHO DOES NOT WISH TO LEAVE THIS PLANE WITH YOU; YOU SHOULD BRING AT LEAST ONE MEANS WITH WHICH TO DEFEND YOURSELF AND WHATEVER YOU REQUIRE TO SUSTAIN YOURSELF. THE TRANSPORTATION IS.. NOT PRECISE."

The great, booming voice pauses for a second.

"I HAVE ONE, FINAL BOON I CAN GRANT TO YOU BEFORE THE CONNECTION IS SEVERED. CHOOSE QUICKLY, AND BEGIN YOUR PREPARATIONS."

Three small, floating orbs descend from the portal, and as you get close to each, you can sense what they would give you.

>An expanded box, 10 meters by 10 meters.
>Another third of a day- 8 extra hours.
>An enhancement of one natural skill that you already possess.

After you've picked, you touch the orb, and the booming voice says nothing further.

---

Well, now comes time to determine a bit of who Al is. Pick one from each category unless otherwise stated. If you picked the enhancement orb, indicate the talent you wish you enhance. Write-ins are tentatively accepted for skills if you can think of one you'd like, though I reserve QM veto.

Physical:
>Al was a track star in high school and made it into the college team as a walk-on. While he'd never have made the Olympics in this world, he's pretty quick and can run for awhile.

>Al was a champion weightlifter and won a whole ton of meets in his younger days. It's been awhile, but the muscle mass has stayed on even through the drinking.

>Al was a couch potato shut-in who played a ton of FPS games. Luckily, this does make his hand-eye coordination a lot better, along with his naturally excellent vision, though he is a bit fluffy.

>Al was a pretty decent wrestler in high school. While he'll never have the mass of a bodybuilder or the speed of a trackster, maybe the knowledge of leverage and the heart of a champ will prove useful.

??? > Albert was never particularly physically gifted, mostly because he spent his time elsewhere. In fact, Albert is explicitly physically deficient, whether that be obesity, severe underweightness, or something else like serious asthma. [Pick an extra Hobby or get something Random; mark your choice.]

1/3

Mental (pick two):
>Albert's smart by default, but if you take this option, Albert has always been that kid. He's familiar with academic rigors and is a very intelligent guy; picks things up fast and is genuinely just quickminded.

>Albert has a claptrap memory. It's not eidetic by any means, but once something's in there, it stays there. From languages to names to directions, if it's been heard or seen recently, it's likely sticking around.

>Al is a Machiavelli fiend; it's just that this recent funk has him off his game. He read The Prince when he was 12; he has a take on life that some people just can't keep up with. This will provide you with unique social options, though it may also close some doors.

>Al has always had a talent for imagination- he is a middling writer, artist, and musician; if he ever had the desire to focus in one area or another, he'd likely have been definitively great at it. This might have more application in the new world, or maybe not.

>Albert is a mathmatical genius, able to make complex calculations in his head at a moment's notice. This will allow him, with proper references and measuring tools, to do things that less advanced people might define as close to god-like; but it certainly doesn't allow him to bypass the laws of physics.

>??? Albert isn't particularly intelligent. He's always been pretty middle of the road; or mayyyybe a little bit behind. This might close some options out to you, but it is what it is; Albert's more developed in other areas. [Pick two extra Physical, Hobby, or Social. You cannot pick any other Mental skills if you take this one.]

(Posting with the wrong trip because I'm a dingus).

Social
>Albert's got good social sense! He's always had an easy time fitting in, and knowing his way around the social scene. He blends in naturally whenever possible and knows when to stand out and when to keep his head down. This will open up options for Albert in the new world.

>Al has a clique of close friends who'd follow him into Hell itself- Chance we've already mentioned, but if you take this choice, Albert has two more friends, Allie and Jason. They've all been buds since elementary and have been tight as a knot ever since. Allie is a chess champion, kind and demure but forceful when people are hurt or bullied; Jason's a man of few words but is tall, intelligent, and is a Golden Gloves youth boxing champ.

>Albert has had a rough upbringing- his family never had much money and he's always had to scrape by with whatever he could scrounge off the ground and off his buddies. If this option is selected, Albert's a fast talker, a decent liar, and has the meagre beginnings of a thief's stealthiness.

>Albert's got no friends, but he does have the internet. Al has spent a lot of time reading Wikipedia, browsing 4chan (/k/ and /qst/ are his favorite boards) and reading Reddit. While this doesn't seem very useful, he's got all kinds of tidbits of information in his mind, and also the ability to maybe get some last minute info from the 'Net that he might've been otherwise unable to acquire quickly. Not taking this doesn't mean Albert doesn't have a computer, but it does mean he doesn't have the online buddies that would make his life much easier.

>Albert's a shut-in. He's been stuck inside his whole life and hardly interacts with anyone- not even the people on the internet are good enough for him. As a result, he's hardened himself against social contact. [Pick one extra Hobby, but you're certain to be at a social malus.]

Hobbies
>Albert was a Boy Scout and actually just finished his Eagle Scout project a few years back. Most of the knowledge is fresh in his mind; he has general wilderness survival skills and navigational skills.
>Al had a passion for firearms all through his youth and is a decent shot. His father left him a Ruger 10/22, a small .22 rifle, which he leaves in his trunk.
>Albert was a big fan of fantasy literature throughout his life. If the god is right and this place conforms to those tropes, this might be a big advantage; though, maybe not. Who knows?
>Albert's an amateur blacksmith. He's made a few knives in his time and even a small shield, though he's by no means a master. Has a small forge setup at home (20 minute drive) with a decent amount of metal and materials.
>Albert is a HEMA practicioner; he loves to swing around old-fashioned swords and axes. In fact, for his 18th birthday, his mother and father bought him (either a suit of plate armor fitted for him, or an axe and a two-handed sword). [You may select this option twice to recieve both.]

>>4634050
And one extra hobby:

>Albert has been a big computer nerd his whole life and is into programming big time. This may open special options in the new world, even though it might seem underwhelming at first glance.

Voting for Al's skills and talents ends in 9 hours at 1645-ish GMT.

How big is the forge set-up? I assume it could be stored in the 10x10 meter box if we got it?
>An expanded box, 10 meters by 10 meters.
>Al was a champion weightlifter and won a whole ton of meets in his younger days. It's been awhile, but the muscle mass has stayed on even through the drinking.
>Albert's smart by default, but if you take this option, Albert has always been that kid. He's familiar with academic rigors and is a very intelligent guy; picks things up fast and is genuinely just quickminded.
>Albert's an amateur blacksmith. He's made a few knives in his time and even a small shield, though he's by no means a master. Has a small forge setup at home (20 minute drive) with a decent amount of metal and materials.

>>4634045
>An enhancement of one natural skill that you already possess.
Can this be cooking or something?

>>Al was a pretty decent wrestler in high school. While he'll never have the mass of a bodybuilder or the speed of a trackster, maybe the knowledge of leverage and the heart of a champ will prove useful.
intuitive grasp of physics and anatomy is powerful when dealing with varied creatures.

>>4634048
>Albert has a claptrap memory. It's not eidetic by any means, but once something's in there, it stays there. From languages to names to directions, if it's been heard or seen recently, it's likely sticking around.
Languages, second only to item bag inventory in broken power

>>4634050
>>Albert's got good social sense! He's always had an easy time fitting in, and knowing his way around the social scene. He blends in naturally whenever possible and knows when to stand out and when to keep his head down. This will open up options for Albert in the new world.
All of these are good choices, really.

Hobby
>Al's deep into speedrunning. Not for any one particular game, but the process of digging for glitches, mapping out optimal routes, and squeezing the absolute most out of whatever mechanics are at hand. Not being able to reset might make this a tad impractical though.

>>4634045
>An enhancement of one natural skill that you already possess.
>Al was a track star in high school. Enhance

>Al has always had a talent for imagination
>Albert has a claptrap memory.

>Al has a clique of close friends who'd follow him into Hell itself
>Albert was a Boy Scout

>>4634092
The forge setup is a small shed. It'd probably take up most of the 5x5, but with the 10x10 you still have a good bit of space afterwards. Also, you need another mental choice and a social choice.

>>4634111
You certainly could enhance cooking, though the enhance option was originally designed to balance against the choices listed; cooking would be a bit weak. Also, you've got another mental choice.

Current Voting:
Expanded box: 1
Enhancement: 2 (1 Cooking, 1 Track)
--
Weightlifter: 1
Wrestler: 1
Track Star: 1
---
Remember for the mental section, you can pick two listed abilities, but notwithstanding that:
Great memory: 2
Imaginative: 1
Super smart: 1


Voting closes in 2 hours at 1645 GMT. At that time, if we still have ties, I'll ask for some dice rolls.

>>4634264
And voting for the Social and Hobby sections:

Social Sense: 1
Clique: 1
---
Blacksmithing: 1
Boy Scout: 1
Speedrunning: 1

>>4634264
okay, then for >>4634111
I'll add

>Albert's smart by default, but if you take this option, Albert has always been that kid. He's familiar with academic rigors and is a very intelligent guy; picks things up fast and is genuinely just quickminded.

>enhance wrestler

>>4634264
>>4634266
wanting my voice to be heard quickly I forego reading half the quest and add a vote to

>Great Memory
if we have seen and read enough isekai we know a shit ton of stuff that can be improved of more medieval style worlds, and
>Blacksmithing
for the dawn of precision engineering

>>4634264
ah, you're right, I think I deleted those trying to fix one I pasted twice
that's what I get for posting at 4 AM
>An expanded box, 10 meters by 10 meters.
>Al was a champion weightlifter and won a whole ton of meets in his younger days. It's been awhile, but the muscle mass has stayed on even through the drinking.
>Albert's smart by default, but if you take this option, Albert has always been that kid. He's familiar with academic rigors and is a very intelligent guy; picks things up fast and is genuinely just quickminded.
>Albert is a mathmatical genius, able to make complex calculations in his head at a moment's notice. This will allow him, with proper references and measuring tools, to do things that less advanced people might define as close to god-like; but it certainly doesn't allow him to bypass the laws of physics.
>Albert's got no friends, but he does have the internet. Al has spent a lot of time reading Wikipedia, browsing 4chan (/k/ and /qst/ are his favorite boards) and reading Reddit. While this doesn't seem very useful, he's got all kinds of tidbits of information in his mind, and also the ability to maybe get some last minute info from the 'Net that he might've been otherwise unable to acquire quickly. Not taking this doesn't mean Albert doesn't have a computer, but it does mean he doesn't have the online buddies that would make his life much easier.
>Albert's an amateur blacksmith. He's made a few knives in his time and even a small shield, though he's by no means a master. Has a small forge setup at home (20 minute drive) with a decent amount of metal and materials.

>>4634045
>>An expanded box, 10 meters by 10 meters.
please clarify:
Is this a pocket dimension we will have once isekai'd,
or a box of things we can take with us into the next world
or both?

>>4634323
This option will provide you with an expanded area that will be transported in 24 hours; if this option is not selected, it'll be a 5x5 meter cube. If you do pick this option, you double the size and instead will have a 10x10 meter cube transported. No pocket dimension is involved- you'll stand in the cube, along with anything and anyone you want to bring along.

>>4634339
Also worth noting with regards to blacksmithing; if you take the blacksmithing option and don't take the 10x10, your shed will take up most of the space.

I vote we get a nice offroad friendly Toyota Hilux from a car rental, buy as much gas in cans as we can afford, tear down our apartment wall and park it in the blue box. Sorry rental guy, you won't see that one again.

>>4634357
We'll move on to preparatory actions after this vote, but I'll definitely put this on the list!

>>4634357
oof, sorry rental guy but that's a good plan.

>An enhancement of a natural skill you already possess (speed)
>>Al was a track star in high school and made it into the college team as a walk-on. While he'd never have made the Olympics in this world, he's pretty quick and can run for awhile

We're sure to win because of our superior speed!

>Albert had a claptrap memory. It's not eidetic by any means, but once something's in there, it stays there. From languages to names to directions, if it's been heard or seen recently, it's likely staying around.
>Albert's got no friends, but he does have the internet. Al has spent a lot of time reading Wikipedia, browsing 4chan (/k/ and /qst/ are his favorite boards) and reading Reddit. While this doesn't seem very useful, he's got all kinds of tidbits of information in his mind, and also the ability to maybe get some last minute info from the 'Net that he might've been otherwise unable to acquire quickly. Not taking this doesn't mean Albert doesn't have a computer, but it does mean he doesn't have the online buddies that would make his life much easier.

Let's use some of our time to cram internet info about basic survival, some simple martial arts or fighting techniques, and maybe refresh our memory on some common fantasy tropes like magic and ki.

>Al had a passion for firearms all through his youth and is a decent shot. His father left him a Ruger 10/22, a small .22 rifle, which he leaves in his trunk.

We can grab this too. Speed and work from afar. We may also want to look up how bullets are made, and see if there's any slow, janky and blacksmithy way to make more once we're in fantasy land.

>>4634357
>>4634365
100% down with this.

Also even if we go with little to no friends, it was mentioned in the first post that we have 'one good buddy'. Shortly before the time limit, maybe a couple of hours, we should give him a quick rundown and ask if he wants to come. If he says no, it'll be close to teleport time and he won't call anyone that'd make our life difficult like a mental health institute. If he says yeah, hell yeah a +1 for the adventure!

>>4634045
>>An enhancement of one natural skill that you already possess.
Empathy, sense people's emotions and figure out what to say to appease them

Physical:
>wrestler
I would like to veto weightlifting, because those guys usually don't have stamina.
The most dangerous people are those who are built like bears with strength and stamina.

Mental:
>Great Memory

>Al is a Machiavelli fiend
Machiavelli was wrong in some cases though, like when to stay neutral in a conflict.

Social:
>Albert's got good social sense!

Hobbies:
>Blacksmithing

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4634382
>>4634378
>>4634316
>>4634310
>>4634299

Final tally for voting:
Enhancement: (Track) 2, (Wrestling) 1
Expanded box: 1
---
Track: 2
Weightlifting: 1
Wrestling: 1
---
Super Smart: 2
Great Memory: 2
Math Genius: 1
Machiavelli: 1
---
Internet Friends:2
Social Sense:2
Clique:1
---
Hobbies:
Blacksmithing: 3
Firearms: 1
Boy Scouts: 1
Speedruns: 1

Rolling a 1d2 with this post to determine Albert's social ability, but otherwise the results are as follows:

-Albert was a track prodigy; he won State all four years in highschool and already competes with the 4x400m, 1600m, and 3200m teams for college as a freshman. He's easily in the top 1% for college athletes and is a rising star in the college athletics world; he'd probably go to the Olympics in 2022.

-Albert is a natural academic, with some real quality brains and a great memory. Learning comes easily to him and he can remember it very well, which means he knows a ton.

-Social to be determined.

-Albert took up blacksmithing when he was a kid; he's not a professional but he has a little bit of experience and a decent forge at home.

>>4634451
>>4634451
Looks like Albert is really close with the internet. With that said, let's continue:
---

It's settling in that this is pretty real- you believe it pretty solidly. The question is, how do you best spend the next 24 hours in order to best prepare yourself?

Albert lives on a medium-sized college campus in Vermont that's a little out of the way from the nearest city. He owns few things that might be of use in a survival situation in his dorm room, but here they are:

-50ft of paracord
-Lighter
-Water bottles, 1L (3)
-Pocket knife (1in blade)
-Warm clothes

He also owns a car (a small Toyota sedan with 100,000 miles on it) and can access his family home. He's not 100% sure of everything that's in there, but he knows his father kept a handgun and there's at least some nonperishable food in the pantry.

Otherwise, he'll have to buy up resources with cash and credit just like anyone else. He's got $140 in cash, a debit card with $1092, and a credit card with a $3000 limit; and obviously, 24 hours.

The question is, what to do first?

Luckily, Albert's {Great Memory} lets him remember the exact travel time to each of these locations:

Gas Station: 5 min drive
Supermarket: 15min drive
REI: 30min drive
Airport: 1hr drive
Bass Pro Shop: 1hr drive
Home: 20min drive

>Give Chance a call for some advice, and try and convince him to come along
>Hop on the Net and post about this crazy shit
>Move the cube somewhere better suited than your dorm room
>Go to the supermarket for food
>Go to an REI for some camping gear and survival stuff (higher end)
>Go to the Bass Pro for some camping gear and survival stuff (lower end)
>Rent a better car than the Toyota; you'll have to drive to the airport (1hr) to do that
>Go home to get stuff together
>Take a nap so you don't drive buzzed (2hrs)
>Brew up a pot of coffee to help you stay awake (10mins)


TIME REMAINING 24 : 00

---

Write-ins are welcome and encouraged; if you have a question about distances or resources available to Albert, please feel free to ask. Please choose or write 1 choice at a time; I will close voting in 1hr 30 minutes (1845 GMT).

>>4634479
I know I originally said we should wait until close to the end to call in Chance, but considering our time limit, if we can convince him to join us we'll not only have a +1, but he can help us gather some of the things we need to save time.

Let's try and convince him to come along and explain what's up. If he agrees, we can ask him to pick some things up

>>4634479
>Go to an REI for some camping gear and survival stuff (higher end)

>>4634492 Has a good point changing my vote >>4634497 to that as well

>>4634492
I agree with this. We should post on the net after that, to give any of the people who actually believe us (or who are entertained by the isekai hypothetical) as much time to help as possible.

>>4634503
Excellent point. I know we are doing one thing at a time for QM, but just planning ahead, I think this is a good course of action:

>Get chance on our side. Have him pick up camping and survival gear, as well as some more perishables at the store
>Post on the net to attract attention, tell people to meet us at a public place (maybe the gas station), that way we don't dox ourselves and get robbed or smth
>Go to the airport and get a big van so we have room to store a bunch of stuff, as well as more +1's if people on the net wanna join in
>Head to our home to get the gun and perishables. Also grab our forge supplies and tuck as many or all the tools we can, as well as a favorite weapon/armor, whatever we got
>Meet everyone at the gas station, including chance, and load up with everything people brought and everyone who came
>Use any remaining time to use our internet skills + good memory to study up on fantasy tropes, fighting styles, and survival skills and techniques. Maybe if we don't have anything already made at the forge, use some time to craft a weapon and some simple chainmail for as many people as we can

Of course I'm open to suggestions, just trying to get the priorities laid out.

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>>4634514
Sounds good. Get a coffee after internet activity to keep us going. Also one important thing we need to do to go full army of darkness is:
>Hit the library! Get books on
>chemistry: toxins and explosives
>mechanical engineering: steam-powered machinery
>anatomy and herbal medicine
>military history and strategy
>agriculture (people will love us if we can increase their yield)
also we should get some fireworks to scare the shit out of people and make them think we're a grand wizard, lol

>>4634541
Based, I dig it

>>4634565
Just do this instead of internet study, getting a physical book on a topic is much quicker than reading up on it online, and you can just grab all that knowledge and take it with you

>>4634573

Im down. As long as there's no book limit we'll be good. Anything last minute we can pirate some ebooks or screenshot some wiki articles.

>>4634541
books are good, have to 100% agree with you, but add to it:
>get a 200~300$ phone construction site workers use that's basically unbreakable, a bunch of microSD cards the phone can read, two solar phone chargers (which go for 30$), and
>>Hop on the Net and post about this crazy shit
>ask for a shitton of downloadable ebooks that can be useful

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>>4634492
>>4634497
>>4634502
>>4634514

Alright, looks like call Chance wins it!

---

You've gotta get your best friend, Chance, in on the action here. If it's real, it's the opportunity of a lifetime; there's no way Chance won't be interested.

Then again.. you look at your phone.

16 missed calls, 44 messages

Chance is most of those; he's been trying to check in with you for the past couple weeks to no avail. He stopped by your dorm a few days ago to make sure you were alright, and you talked with him for a solid thirty seconds before he left, sensing you wanted to be alone. Oh well. Hopefully, this goes better than you think it will.

The phone rings only once before Chance picks up.

"Hey brother, how are you! I'm glad to get a call from you."

You answer in the affirmative and skip the small talk, giving Chance a layout of the whole situation- the portal, the parameters, and the rest.

He's a little bit incredulous.

"Okay, so you want me to.. go get camping gear so we can go to this magical adventure land and leave forever? Buddy, if you want to go on a weekend trip just let me know; this seems a little over the top. Here, let's do this- if you meet me at the camping store in an hour, I'll buy you a few hundred bucks of camping shit. I want to see your face for this.. still kinda think this might be a classic Al prank," he says with a laugh.

Fine, looks like Chance will only entertain you if you meet up.

>"Okay, see you at REI in an hour."
>"No, meet me at [Insert Location] in an hour."
>"You know what, Chance, nevermind."

With that said, what do you do next?
>Hop on the Net and post about this crazy shit [30min]
>Brew some coffee, and then hop on the net and post about this *really* quickly [30min, gives you a penalty to any rolls associated with the Net for this interaction due to speed]
>Hit the library [The campus library is 5 minutes away, but it'll take awhile to browse.]
>Another option?

>>4634689
TIME REMAINING 23:55

>"Okay, see you at REI in an hour."
>Hop on the Net and post about this crazy shit [30min]
We could always pop into a gas station and grab a coffee real quick later.

>>4634689
>"Okay, see you at REI in an hour"
"I understand we haven't kept up much...I apologize. Things have been tough. I know I might sound crazy, but trust me on this man. If you can pick up the stuff before I get there I'd really appreciate it, I'll meet you there and go over everything again"

>Hit the library
Let's pick up the books we discussed. We can post on the net after since it's gonna take a while

>>4634714
Actually change what we do next vote to this. We can do the net first and then quickly pop by the library.

>>4634714
>>4634715
If you'd like to ask him to start grabbing things before you get there, you'll need a list of stuff you'd like him to get.

Closing the vote in 1 hour at 2055 GMT.

>>4634715
+1, get a coffee to go somewhere on the way

>>4634737

"If you can pick up the stuff before I get there, some tents, a few sleeping bags, some canteens, a couple of flashlights, and enough dried, preserved food to last the two of us at least a week. Also if you've got time, I'd appreciate you picking up one of those solar powered phone chargers for me man. I'm more than happy to pay you back for this stuff if you need me to, I'm just on a time limit here"

>>4634737
list of camping gear:
>camping stove with pot and as much gas as we can get
>hatchet
>machete
>Mora knife
>warm sleeping bag
>fishing gear
>Thermos cans
>good outdoor jacket
>solid hiking boots
>light walking shoes
>rubber boots
>spend the rest on beef jerky and energy bars
I figure we'll be sleeping in the van so no need for a tent.

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>>4634689
>>"Okay, see you at REI in an hour (and a half)."
>>Hop on the Net and post about this crazy shit [30min]
>ask for tips as in >>4634617

>>4634757
It'd take you thirty minutes to post and then thirty minutes to drive to REI, so you could meet him there in an hour if you so desired.

>>4633832
Meh. Been wanting more portal isekai. Let's see where this goes.

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>>4633895
>poopoo mcdoodoo

>>4634786
You must be 18 to post here

File: aV30bOn_460s.jpg (28 KB, 460x499)

28 KB JPG

>>4634820

>>4634714
>>4634715
>>4634740
>>4634743
>>4634757

"Okay, see you there in an hour," you say, and then list off all the stuff you'd like him to get, which includes:
> 2 tents
> 4 sleeping bags
> 8 1L canteens
> 2 crank-powered flashlights
> 1 weeks worth of dried food for 2 people
> A Jetboil camping stove with as many propane containers as he's willing to buy
> A hatchet and machete
> A simple Mora knife
> A pair of fishing poles, tackle and a bit of bait
> A pair of thermoses
> A set of one outdoor jacket, solid hiking boots, light shoes, and rubber boots for the both of you
>Some beef jerky and energy bars to mix it up with the dried food.

"Well, that's not going to come cheap, but for you, my man, I'll do it. But I'd better see you soon, or I'm coming after you, fantasy world or not!"

You laugh and hang up the phone and walk over to your Toshiba laptop. It's old, but it keeps up well enough to browse the Web, and that's just what you intend to do.

You hop online and start posting, trying to get advice, see if there's anyone in your area who'd want to meet up at a public place, and you also pull up some online repositories for information, like that PoleShift site where the apocalypse crazies keep all kinds of good open-source PDFs. You pull it all onto a micro-SD that you have laying around- pretty close to capacity at 48.6GB- and then you get going.

What do you focus on with your internet time?
>Recruiting people to come listen to you
>Telling your story so you're not forgotten or thought of as missing
>Getting good advice from people who might be more experienced
>Finding quality, top-tier info

CHALLENGE: DC 35, 3d100
- Relevant Ability: Internet Friends (+10)
---
Let me introduce you all to the challenge system of this quest, because this is our first one!

When a CHALLENGE tag is posted with a DC, Anons roll one of the dice specified, with any bonus specified in the "Relevant Abilities/Actions" section. So, for this post, three players please roll 1d100 each, and add 10 to your roll. I will take best of three in this case.

Rolled 54 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>4634840
>Recruiting people to come listen to you
if any of our internet buddies are close enough and seem like they could be useful, otherwise focus on info.

>>4634840
Vote will close in 45 minutes at 2150 GMT.

Rolled 70 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>Recruiting people to come listen to you

>>4634840
>Recruiting people to come listen to you

>Getting good advice from people who might be more experienced
Bringing along people we can't trust with limited supplies is probably the most dangerous thing we can do.

Rolled 42 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

Forgot the dice, whoops

>>4634911
Counterargument, the type of people who would buy into this and be willing to leave the world they know are probably the kind of people who don't have many friends and would be more than happy to work together with us, especially in a place where we're all new and when we all have the same origin of our original home world.

>>4634911
this is a good argument, switching my vote
>>4634849
to
>Finding quality, top-tier info
I don't know who would be "experienced" with that kind of shit. Wouldn't that basically mean asking /x/ for advice?

>>4634929

We could probably get experienced takes from survivalists and people who travel a lot to new places, at least about how to assimilate into a new culture and take care of ourselves. Also maybe advice on how to handle ourselves in a fight.

>>4634929
The "finding quality info" option would entail spending most of your time on specialized forums that deal with niche topics- primitive hunting and fishing forums, gunsmithing websites, and the like. Albert's Social quality means he does have friends that are active in those communities, so it'd be a good use of your time if none of the other options appeal.

>>4634840
We don't need people to believe us, just act like it would be a quest, a challenge, on what info you can gather in an as short amount of time as possible
>>Finding quality, top-tier info

I'm still keeping my vote on recruitment, but I'll be satisfied with the quality info too. Either one will be helpful I think

>>4634934
then I retract my vote here >>4634936
we need a collection of broad topics, not spec too high in one thing

>>4634939
Another benefit of recruiting other people means getting to pool our knowledge with theirs. If they're on sites like the post apocalypse place or various 4chan boards, they may already have spec knowledge that will help us on the journey

>>4634917
Maybe, I just see it as an undeniable risk. Is there a chance everyone gets along, especially since we're all from Earth- yeah, definitely. It's not a guarantee though, and it seems chancier than going with just Chance (pun intended) given that we have limited supplies.
Ultimately I don't think it's a bad decision at all, it definitely has a chance of paying off, I just don't want to risk it.
>>4634938
so yeah, echoing this sentiment, extra manpower is too risky for me but it would be helpful

>>4634943
Nothing wrong with playing it safe either. There's a very real chance of betrayal, especially if one of our +1s happens to get blessed with some super power upon arrival.

I don't think we should actually bring anyone with us that we don't already know

>>4634849
>>4634881
>>4634893
>>4634911
CHALLENGE results:
64/100, 80/100, 52/100; Success!

Vote Results
2 for recruiting, 3 for getting advice. Getting advice wins it.

With the time you've got, you have time to shoot a few messages to friends about where you'll meet them- tomorrow morning [at approx T-8 hours] at the gas station near campus, if they're interested. You also have time to download all of the things previously mentioned; general guides and helpful tidbits. What you spend the bulk of your time on, though, is soliciting expert advice- not necessarily on any specifics, but more regarding what your general priorities might be and what you should go after in the time you have.

In the short time you spend furiously typing, you find that the consensus beyond what you already know is:
"You should bring some valuables, like cheap jewelry or gold, because they might not have very good metalworking and it'd be incredibly valuable."
"You should definitely bring a ranged weapon of some kind; you don't know what you're up against. A silent one like a nice bow would probably be best."
"Have you thought about a nice journal/potential spellbook? Maybe one of those waterproof ones with a waterproof pen, just in case; would be way better than canvas."
"I might see if you can bring a pair of goats or some other animal along, for milk and trade; exotic animals to them might be very different than ours."

With that advice in mind, you head out to grab coffee and meet Chance. You get on the road, still a little bit buzzed...

CHALLENGE: DC 40, 3d100

TIME REMAINING 2 3 : 2 5

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>4634977
>CHALLENGE: DC 40, 3d100
to drive?

>>4634981
Yep, this CHALLENGE is to not wreck your car driving.

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>4634981
It's because we're still a little buzzed from the alcohol and didn't give ourselves a few hours to cool off.

>>4634977
Let's make a point to look for valuables at our home when we go to visit. Maybe we can find dad's old wedding ring or some other memorabilia. It's not a silent ranged weapon, but his gun is also still a freebie- though we can pick up something like a crossbow and some ammunition at the REI probably. Animals...it might be tough to get one on short notice if there isn't a family pet back at the house. Journal we probably have plenty of lying around as a student, let's get one of those on the way out the door.

>>4634977
>"I might see if you can bring a pair of goats or some other animal along, for milk and trade; exotic animals to them might be very different than ours."
oh, you know what?

Seeds
shit like... pretty much all of Solanaceae, like Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Peppers didn't exist in Europe until they were brought back from the Americas. And potatoes especially are plants who are an amazing crop
Spices are much easier to get and still very valuable in medieval times than jewelry
why do you think Britain conquered half the world? For spices! because their food sucks, true story
we need seeds
much cheaper to get and much easier to transport than goats

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>4634977

Condoms would be a plus; if we're shagging some elven bitches we dont want alien dick viruses or wood jig sons and daughters running around

>>4634997
>>4635006

Both valid. Let's add waterproof pen and waterproof bag to the list as well, and maybe some mace for something quick and exotic we can use as an emergency bitch out weapon.

also this
>>4634689
suggests we're 4-eyed. if that's the case we should take at least 2 pairs of replacement glasses. If we dont have them, find time to get them done. We're fucked if we can't see.

>>4634981
>>4634986
>>4634998
CHALLENGE results:
70/100, 30/100, 77/100. Success.

Despite a few close calls, you make it to Starbucks with no worries and pull through the drivethrough. Mmm, caffeine. You pay with your debit card [-5$ DEBIT] and continue on the road, now much more awake and alert; you make it to REI about 5 minutes after the time you said you'd meet Chance there.

You don't see him outside, so you make your way indoors and see him with a shopping cart across the store, with most of the items you asked him to get already there.

He spots you and abandons the cart, running to you and wrapping you up in a big, warm hug. It's nice- honestly, you haven't felt decent since the accident.

"Al! I was starting to think you weren't gonna show. Let's finish up here, eh? And then you can talk me through all this..."

You walk and talk with Chance as you finish up buying any last minute items here. Other than the items you already listed, there's a couple of things that you note:

>20 pack of condoms, 8$
>Mace, 1 4oz bottle, 12$
>A pair of ice-climber's picks [Unlocked by Super Smart], 49$
>A Rite-in-the-Rain journal and pen that won't stain in the rain, unlike the academic journals at the dorm, 20$
>One nice looking floodlight that claims to be "1 million lumens", $50
>A killer hiking backpack that they can heat-fit you to in the store, $250
>A less cool backpack, $160

Unfortunately, when it comes to weapons here, they really only having camping tools; you'd have to go to the Bass Pro for a crossbow or similiar thing. As for seeds, you'll need to go to a specialized store- [Great Memory triggers]- there's an agriculture store over on the other side of town, 45 minutes away. Other than that, Chance will cover all the previously listed weapons; talking to you over the next half hour you spend shopping, you manage to convince him fully except for one thing- his fiance has to come.

Claire, Chance's fiance, is a great chick, and you and her get along well. She's not the most nature-minded, for sure, but neither is she totally incompetent- she grew up on a farm in Indiana. She might have some useful skills. It is, ultimately, up to you, though, but Chance won't come without her.

What are you doing next/what else do you buy at the store?

[1/2]

>>4635034
Store:
>Buy the [condoms/picks/journal/floodlight/cool backpack/normal backpack] with [Cash/Debit/Credit]
>Look for something else (Write-in, but every search takes 5 minutes extra, so use this option wisely)

Leave and go to:
>Move the cube somewhere better suited than your dorm room (30 mins travel back)
>Go to the supermarket for food (5 mins from here)
>Go to the Bass Pro for some camping gear and survival stuff (10 mins from here)
>Drive to the airport for another car (1hr 30 mins drive from here)
>Go home to get stuff together (10 mins from here)
>Go to the agriculture store to grab seeds and farming stuff (45 mins from here)
>Somewhere else?

Is Chance...:
>Sticking with you?
>Going somewhere you send him? Any previous location is valid, as is somewhere else.
>To pick up his fiance, and then somewhere else (20 mins to his house)?

Chance can contribute his Rottweiler dog and a medium-sized truck that he drove here, along with a decent amount of sporting gear that could double as improvised armor and weapons if need be (football pads, baseball bats, etc).

[2/2]

>>4635031
While you do wear glasses, you've got 2 extra pairs, and your vision isn't incredibly impaired. They're mostly for reading the board while sitting in the back of class.

>>4635037
TIME REMAINING: 22:25

>>4635037
why is library not an option? how long would that take?

Lets buy all the stuff listed except normal backpack on credit. Since they cover camping stuff, let's also pray for luxury camping stuff at Bass pro and get our crossbow and solar powered phone charger. I assume from the description Chase already got the tents and bedrolls and all that, which is pretty epic.

As for Chance, the truck, sporting gear, and dog would all be pretty epic- we may not even need a van at that rate. I vote we
>Explain everything that happened last with the portal (hopefully only 10-15 minutes) and say he may want to bring his fiance and dog along.
>(Assuming the above goes well) To pick up his fiance, and then meet us at Bass Pro shop with his truck to load up

Let's be understanding if he declines us to stay in the real world

>>4635047
Library is absolutely an option. It'd take you 35 minutes and return you to near your dorms.

>>4635050
Chance bought everything listed previously in this >>4634840 post.

>>4635061
Thanks for the reminder QM, I brain farted there. Thank God Chance is based

>>4635050
Oh yeah, also if he questions our sanity, bring up that we can show him the cube back at our room after we pick everything up for proof

>>4635037
Vote closes in two hours at 0055 GMT, since this is a bit of a complex one.

>>4635094
>REI
what type of shop is that even?

>>4635111
Recreational Equipment Inc.; they're an upscale, high-quality, kinda-yuppie outdoor goods store.

Extending voting window by 15 minutes for low response; closing at 0110 GMT.

>>4635050
Considering no further votes, buying everything except the normal backpack on credit, going to Bass Pro, and sending Chance to get his fiance and then meet you at Bass Pro wins.

---
You ring up your items and punch in your PIN. [-$389 CREDIT]

You take some time as you and Chance carry the gear to the car- 10 minutes or so- to explain to Chance the particulars of what's going to happen and that he should load up his sporting gear in his truck, along with his dog, and come along.

"Well, I'll have to convince Claire.. we'll see how that goes. If I can't convince her, I won't be going anywhere, much less for 'the foreseeable future to a faraway land', my friend. I'll really do my best though."

Chance gives you a fist-bump and then drives off. You head to the Bass Pro to check stuff out, specifically looking for a crossbow and solar-powered phone charger; and maybe browse a bit.

10 minutes later, you get to the Bass Pro. It's starting to get later in the day- it was around 3pm when the portal popped up, so it's after 5 o'clock now- which means shopping is going to become very difficult, very quickly.

In any case, you make your way in to the Bass Pro and start looking. Luckily, it only takes you about 10 more minutes to find your 120lb draw crossbow, 30 broadhead bolts, and a pair of solar phone chargers- all told , it'll set you back $300; otherwise, you also come across:

>A magnesium firesteel set, $10
>A blowdart tube and 10 blowdarts, $60
>A vintage "Downed Pilot's Guide to Wilderness Survival" that looks earmarked and written in, $110
>Snow shoes, $80 a set
>Looking around for something else (5 mins per object desired, may or may not find it here)

With all your shopping said and done, you pay the cashier and grab your items. You walk out to the cool Vermont air and a beautiful sunset and see a happy sight- Chance's truck, with his Rottweiler, Rex, and his fiance, Claire. He helps you load the back of the truck, you say hello to Claire, and you plot your next moves. It seems like he's pretty committed at this point- you are his best friend, after all.


What do you buy?
>[items purchased, currency used]
>Albert's looking for.. [X]

What's next?
>Move the cube somewhere better suited than your dorm room (30 mins travel back)
>Go to the supermarket for food (15 mins from here)
>Go back to REI for something you forgot (10 minutes)
>Drive to the airport for another car (1hr 20 mins drive from here)
>Go home to get stuff together (20 mins from here)
>Go to the agriculture store to grab seeds and farming stuff (55 mins from here)
>Library? (30 mins)
>Send Chance and Claire somewhere?
>Somewhere else?

TIME REMAINING 2 1 : 5 5

>>4635364
no time to vote, but with regards to convincing chance can we set down the cube and let them decide for themselves if you're bullshitting or if they even want to go?

I don't think there's many holographic devices that can do 5x5 meter bright outline without a laser, power source, on any terrain.

>>4635364
>>4635377

Aye, assuming we already got the aforementioned bow and solar powered chargers, let's grab the magnesium fire starter with cash and call it there. We can get books at the library

>Go back to the apartment with Chance and Claire to show them the cube- ask for advice for where to put it where it won't be seen

>>4635364
>A magnesium firesteel set, $10
>Snow shoes, $80 a set

>Looking around for something else (5 mins per object desired, may or may not find it here)
>>Family pack of air-activated hand-warmers.

>Library? (30 mins)
If the Library has a nice printer, we could print out some nice artwork to sell. Also gives us an in for talking with nobles if we can sell unique realistic art.

>>4635364
Vote closes in 20 minutes at 0345 GMT.

>>4635377
Chance seems pretty settled on believing you. Albert is, after all, his best friend- he was mainly concerned that this was some weird suicide thing.

>>4635527
Yeah but there's still Claire, and it's better to show them at the same time.

If the vote isn't already closed I'll put in for.
>Go to the agriculture store to grab seeds and farming stuff (55 mins from here)
since we're already driving around and have their truck to help us haul stuff.
We could go in the morning though, should be fine either way.

>>4635552
>>4635536
>>4635481
>>4635387
Take Chance and Claire to the apartment to show the cube off and get their thoughts wins it. It's worth noting that most stores will be unavailable in approximately 2 hours after this action, so any last minute shopping before the morning needs doing soon.
____

You purchase your items- the crossbow and bolts, the chargers, the magnesium firesteel set, a pair of snow shoes, and a pack of 40 hand warmers - it costs you a little over 400 dollars total. [-$402 DEBIT].

You walk out and tell Chance to meet you back at the dorms- he follows you down the highway all the way. You feel the coffee start to drop off a bit- you're getting a bit sleepy. You can always find more caffeine, but it's also probably a good idea to find time for at least 6 hours of sleep before tomorrow; you don't want to be sleepless going into a new world.

You arrive, finally, at the dorms. It's a quiet Wednesday night and things are not as rambunctious as they are on the weekend or on football days; you bring Chance and Claire inside without any harassment or trouble.

"So, Albert, how've you been," asks Claire sweetly, in her Midwestern accent.

You tell her a little bit about life lately, dimming the bad and highlighting the good so she doesn't feel too piteous, and then you remember the disaster that is your room. You dash ahead to clean up a bit and manage to make it look at least presentable before they come in.

"Woah...", Chance says, rounding the corner out of the hallway, as he sees the floating cube-outline.

"Close the door!" you intone at him, and he slams the door as Claire hurries in. You give her the lowdown of how it appeared and gave you this weird ultimatum-thing. While Claire seems a bit skeptical, she's at least willing to follow along, and more importantly, she'll follow Chance just about wherever he goes, and he seems deadset on following you into metaphorical Hell.

You ask them a bit about what they their thoughts are and where they think you should put the portal to not be seen.

"Well, actually," Claire says, and then begins to go into detail about her dad's ranch in the more northern part of Vermont- about a 4 hour drive. You'd have to move a lot of stuff up there, but it's got animals (a couple of cows, a pair of riding horses, some pigs), light farming equipment, and a grain silo- and it's also private. The nearest town, she says, is probably 20 miles away.

Well, that's a thought.

Chance, on the other hand, thinks you should just throw it down in your backyard. You can always claim it's some special light show if neighbors get nosy, and it's not all that intrusive, especially since your family home borders a small wooded stretch. It'd also keep you close to the resources you know about.

[1/2]

>>4635631

Anyways, no better time like the present to decide. Others might come along when you meet up at the gas station tomorrow, but the three of you are going for sure, so decision time-
>Keep it here and use somewhere on campus
>Take it to Claire's father's ranch- he probably wont be around for the next few days, so it should be fine
>Just use your backyard; it's convenient and easy
>You have another idea.. (write in)

What to do after deciding?
>Browse for some books at the library, which closes soon (5 minute drive, might take awhile to browse)
>Go to the supermarket for food (15 mins from here)
>Go back to REI or Bass Pro for something you forgot before they close for the night (10 minutes)
>Drive to the airport for another car (1hr drive)
>Go home to get stuff together (20 mins from here)
>Go to the agriculture store to grab seeds and farming stuff (1hr 15 mins from here)
>Send Chance and Claire somewhere?
>Somewhere else, or something else?

>>4635641
TIME REMAINING: 2 1 : 1 0

Voting window ends in 1 hour at 0505 GMT.

>>4635641
>Our backyard

It's risky, but Claire's place is 2 hours away, getting to the gas station and back will be tough. We can always set up some fake lights to make it look like special effects and say it's for a school project

>Head to the library
>Send Chase and Claire to get seeds for us at the agriculture store

>>4635641
>Go to the Army Surplus store and buy some Steel helmets and any other body armor you can.
Steel pot helmets cost 39.99 IRL


>>Just use your backyard; it's convenient and easy

>Send Chase and Claire to get seeds for us at the agriculture store

>Just use your backyard; it's convenient and easy
>Browse for some books at the library, which closes soon (5 minute drive, might take awhile to browse)
>Send Chase and Claire to get seeds for us at the agriculture store

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Basic Knuckle protecters

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67 KB JPG

Morse Code

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1.01 MB PNG

>>4634757
Maybe better version of this?

Sorry for Image Spam

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37 KB PNG

>>4635656
>>4635695
>>4635699

Backyard and library is the winner here.
___

You decide to just use your backyard. It's spacious, has your blacksmith's shed, and is near home and the college. Basically, it makes the most sense, even with nosy neighbors.

You also decide to head to the library before it closes. It'd be good to get some books on agriculture, steam engineering, and other technologies that might be useful in a world with lesser technology than your own. In the meanwhile, you send Chance and Claire to go get some seeds at the agriculture store; you instruct them to get hardy tubers and grains [Super Smart].

After a short drive, you make your way up to the Sylvester Churchill Memorial Library. It's a quick walk up the stairs until you reach the inside.

"We're closing in half an hour, sweetie," the librarian says with a smile on her face, "is there anything I can help you find?"

Pick some themes- each subject would normally take about 10 minutes to find sufficient books to get a decent idea of the subject matter, but with [Super Smart] you can browse pretty quick, taking 5 minutes per subject- that means you've got time for 6 subjects before the library closes.

In the image is a list of subjects- you may double-pick a subject to go deeper into it.

What subjects are you looking into and checking out books about?

>>4635695
The nearest Army surplus store is.. well, you don't know. It's a quick Google search since you're at home- 45 minute drive. Who knows what you can get there; seems like a little bit of everything, and by the time you could get there tonight, they'd be closed.

TIME REMAINING: 2 1 : 0 5

>>4635812
There's a lot of good stuff, but here's my picks.
>Agriculture
It already seems like we're going down this route.
>Blacksmithing
We're experienced, which may make this seem redundant, but on the other hand that could make it even more important to bring over what knowledge on the subject is unique to our world.
>Cooking
An anon mentioned it earlier and with the farm thing it sounds fun.
>Engineering, Civil
>Engines, Steam
General "bringing technology to a new world" stuff.
>Navigation
Just in case, we don't know where we might end up.

We might be able to send Chance in the morning to get more books, does he attend the same university as us?

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>>4635812
A good point to stop for now. I'll be back at 1430 GMT and the vote will close for books at that point; also have in mind locations you'd like to head to next. o7

>>4635817
+1, specifically modern blacksmithing techniques will be helpful

What time is it in the day again? Maybe next we go to the house to get the gun and perishables before sleeping a good 6 hours, unless it's still too early to sleep. As soon as stores close we may as well take advantage of it to get some shuteye

>>4635817
Chance does not attend the same university; he goes to one about an hour north, though they just started winter break at his school and the library's likely closed.

>>4635851
It's exactly 6:40pm. Most non-chain places around here close at 7, 7:30, or 8; people have lives they'd like to attend to!

>>4635812
>agriculture
>wilderness survival
>cooking
>engines, steam
>blacksmithing
>navigation

I think we should look into a first aid kit or at the least disinfectant

>>4635859
In that case we could stay up a little more then. Airport is generally open around the clock or pre late so we could get the van if we don't think Chance's truck will be enough. Alternatively, the army surplus store to pick up some gear and weapons would not be a bad idea at all.

>>4635812
Try to find information about how to build and operate a still. Even if we don't drink or trade it, having easy access to high proof hooch will mean that we can keep wounds disinfected.

>>4635860
Good call, modern medicine and disinfectant will be huge if we don't wanna get fantasy diseases

>>4635812
>agriculture
>pedal power plants
>fishing (we already have the gear)
>generators
>steam engines
>poisons

As for seeds potatoes will be very nice but I think we also shouldn't forget chilipeppers, sugarcane/sugar beet whichever is easier to grow, watercress and other easy to grow flavor enhancers and bamboo severs as food and makes for a good lightweight but strong replacement for wood.

Raingear will also be good to have.

>>4635882
>anons bring seed crop for money and materials
>accidentally becomes the demon lord of agriculture, devastating the world's ecosystems with hyper-aggressive plant expansion.

Given that Al browses 4chan and we're heading into a fantasy world with potentially primitive tech should we not download/read something like Dr Stone to use as a cheat sheet for simple tech?

>>4636076
Dr Stone implies an autistic dedication to mathematical precision that can't be compensated with tools, I'm not so sure MC has the mental stats for it.

>>4635817
>>4635851
>>4635860
>>4635866
>>4635869
Agriculture, Blacksmithing, Cooking, Steam Engines, Civil Engineering and Navigation wins it.

---

You zip around the halls of the library, adeptly using Dewey Decimal and the remnants of the caffeine in your blood to move quickly and grab useful books by reputable authors on important subjects. It takes you the full thirty minutes, but as the librarian announces that "the library is now closing" you set the twenty-odd books down at the checkout desk with a resounding thump.

"Research projects? This late in the semester? Professors these days!"
She has a wry smile on her face as she scans the books and shakes her head. When she's done scanning the books, she hands you a pair of small totebags and makes sure you know that they're due in 2 weeks time, which makes you laugh on the inside.

Finally, as the library closes it's doors and the librarian waves you goodbye, you hustle down the steps back to your car, laden with books. It's only a short drive back from the dorms here, and it's already 7:10- starting to get late. You could head back to the dorms and then start bringing things home and see what you have there; or there might be a few stores still open.

>>4635882
You take a moment to call up Chance and make sure he grabs chilis, sugarcane, and some other spices/flavoring type seeds.

All that given, it's time to decide what to do.

>Head to the dorms and grab the cube, and bring it home (30 min total trip) along with the rest of your stuff
>Head somewhere else? (All previous locations are welcome, as well as the army surplus store- which I did mention might be closed.)

Chance will still be at the agriculture store for awhile, so you also need to tell him what to do next.
>Get some sleep and meet me at my house in the morning, Chance
>Go to [X] location to pick some stuff up

>>4636173
TIME REMAINING: 2 0 : 3 5

Votes close in 1 hour, 30 minutes at 1650 GMT.

>>4636173
I'd like to try and find out where to get a canteen-kitchen sack of salt, like a 50 lbs bag
Ask Chance and Claire to come over to check out the box so they don't think you're crazy
and then get some sleep to be more awake the next day.

>>4636173
>head to the airport, rent an offroad-friendly camping van. Blow the rest of the money on gas, first-aid supplies and wet wipes. Also I still want to get some fireworks but I'm no American so I don't know where and how to buy them (probably not at the airport, lol)

>Head to the dorms and grab the cube, and bring it home (30 min total trip) along with the rest of your stuff
>Go to [X] location to pick some stuff up
Pick up some first-aid supplies, (edible, not rock) salt, and gasoline if you have the chance before the stores close, and then head to sleep and meet us at our house in the morning.
>>4636201
They already saw the cube a few updates back, right?
>>4636233
>I still want to get some fireworks but I'm no American so I don't know where and how to buy them
It's a seasonal thing, at least where I live. Stands pop up everywhere in June and then disappear around mid-July. Was the date ever stated?

>>4636174
noooooo

last second vote
we need meds too, we can't go to a place where we don't have any immunities to sicknesses just like that

>>4636241
>It's a seasonal thing
even the small ones, like firecrackers or those things that twirl and shoot sparks? They should be enough to scare some peasants.
>>4636272
this guy is right about meds. Painkillers, antibiotics, disinfectants

>>4636279
>even the small ones, like firecrackers or those things that twirl and shoot sparks? They should be enough to scare some peasants.
The only places that sell those are the stands, at least in my area, but it might vary by region. Some places have restrictions on fireworks the rest of the year (although they only enforce them in relation to selling, people still blow off spare fireworks whenever, although maybe it's different in cities), but I've heard some places don't and could theoretically sell them year-round if they wanted. We'd have to ask the QM.

Portal Quest AKA: I was summoned to another world but thanks to the 24 hour advance notice I was prepared for it

Since we're getting good replies, I'll hold the vote for another 30 minutes or so.

File: SomethingWickedThisWayComes.png (516 KB, 464x668)

516 KB PNG

>>4636201
>>4636233
>>4636241
>>4636288
To answer some questions- it's midwinter, close to when college winter break would start- late November, early December. First aid supplies can be had relatively simply, at any pharmacy or convenience store, of which there are plenty around. Fireworks will be more difficult to find, and would take you awhile to search.

Looks like you're sending Chance to pick up first aid supplies, salt, and max out his card on as much gasoline as he can find, while you go to the airport.

____

You take the long drive to the airport and pick up a large van, the biggest they have there, at the rental place. You leave your old, beaten down sedan at the airport, and sadly think that that's the place where it'll remain, likely towed and then smashed into scrap after you disappear. Such is life.

It's an hour drive one way, so you're feeling pretty tired on the way back. You decide to head to bed at 2130 and set an alarm to wake up early at around 3am to get stuff done.

Unfortunately, the clutches of sleep are particularly tight tonight- and the nightmares are strange. Black, shadowy creatures haunt Albert; not the normal dreams of the accident where he has to watch the terrible things there again, but something entirely different.

It's like something malign is waiting for him on the other side of this venture. Almost like it's hungry.

CHALLENGE: DC 50, 3d100
-Something terrifying lurks in Albert's dreams as he tries to get restful sleep..

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>4636364

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>4636364

>>4636369
Really hoping crits don't override

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>4636364

>>4636381
>>4636366
>>4636369
CHALLENGE results: 1/100, 34/100, 53/100
(Normally, crits do override, be they crit fail or crit success. However, since I hadn't enumerated that in the rules, we'll let that one slide. In the future, crits override normal rolls, with 100s beating out 1s.) Success! (Barely.)

While it is a long, tossing and turning night, you wake up in the morning refreshed, at least a bit, though you could use a nap. It isn't all that long now until you leave- about 5 hours until you meet with anyone who came to the gas station, and then after that only a little while longer. The cube hums in the room next door where you put it down, the gentle blue light illuminating the underside of your bedroom door. It's almost peaceful as you lie here in bed before getting up.

You generally know where most things are in the house, but it'd be good to spend some early morning time rooting through stuff, finding your dad's handgun, and maybe seeing if there's anything else you can use.

>Spend about 2 hours digging through the house for anything useful
>Do something else with your time

It is currently 0330 in the AM, so non-24 stores are all closed, and you don't want to make too much noise or the neighbors will be waking up. Of course, maybe you don't care about that.

TIME REMAINING: 1 2 : 1 5

>>4636398
>>Spend about 2 hours digging through the house for anything useful

>>4636398
>Spend about 2 hours digging through the house for anything useful

>>4636407
>>4636411
+1

>>4636415
>>4636411
>>4636407
Gonna call the vote early on this one since it's unanimous and I'd like to get things moving.

___


You spend a few hours searching your home for useful stuff. It has a sort of bitter nostalgia- your parent's room still has the covers messed up, your sister's room still smells like that awful young teenager perfume, and your younger brother's crib is empty. It's depressing, but you push on- there's new purpose, now. You've gotta stand strong for their memory, and not let Chance and Claire down too.

It's not a lot, but you find:

-Your dad's Glock 21 in .45 caliber, with a triplet of 15 round magazines and a full one in the chamber. You also find a half-full box of 100 rounds, so an extra 50 shots, making for a total of 95 .45 caliber cartridges. He took you shooting only occasionally, so you're by no means a crack shot, but you at least know how it works.

-Your dad's set of tools in the garage- a claw hammer, a saw, a drill with two batteries, and a wrench- and plenty of nails. He also had some wood on hand for trying to build your sister a treehouse in the back woods near your house.

-Your sister's Ipod with music from Taylor Swift, Doja Cat, and other such artists. It's a later-gen Ipod, so it's pretty much just a smartphone without phone functionality.

-Your mom's set of jewelery and your dad's watch collection. It feels almost bank-robber-esque, but it's a lot of valuables- $4,000 to $5,000 worth.

-The family's nonperishables- a few dozen cans of peas, sausages, and other canned foods- a large 5gallon water container, and a car first aid kit.

All said and done, you also have access to your own clothes, so you can pack as little or as much of that as you desire. What's next? It's still 3 hours until you have to meet anyone anywhere. You could always start setting up the cube under the cover of night, and maybe it'd be good to set up some poles and tarps around it so that people aren't being too nosy. You could also do some gas shopping of your own.

>Start setting up the zone with tarps and poles so that it's concealed from sight (will take 1 hr)
>Go to the gas station and max out all of your cards and cash on gas (gas station is 10 mins away, the process will take awhile though.)[Super Smart](It'll take you about 2 hours to fill up that many cans.)
>Do something else?

Chance might get here soon. If you're leaving, you should leave him a note on what to do next-
>Chance, you should..

Of course, if you're not leaving, you can just tell him yourself when he gets here.

TIME REMAINING: 1 0 : 1 5

This vote will close in about 2 hours at 2100 GMT.

>>4636444
>Start setting up the zone with tarps and poles so that it's concealed from sight (will take 1 hr)
after that we'll sent Chance with our credit card for more gas shopping. also we should invest in some of that fake supermarket jewelry as well, dirty medieval peasants will not be able to tell the difference and we can get a whole backpack of nice glittery stuff for a hundred bucks. Ask chase if he has any fireworks lying around or if he knows where to get some.

I must say I'm not enthusiastic about traveling with a couple. They have their own dynamic and we'll be that strange third wheel guy they hang out with out of pity.

>>4636464
Supporting >>4636464

>>4636464
+1-ing this, though we may be screwed on the fake jewelry thing if they have any magic equivalent of the spell 'identify'

>>4636479
we can't really factor in magic since we simply don't know what they can do. If they have really powerful magicians then all our knowledge about steam engines and medicine and so on is shit compared to what they can do with a few enchantments.

>>4636484
Or we could use magic in conjunction with technology. Imagine a steam engine powered by a fire elemental, or a gun that fires bullets engraved with magic runes.

>>4636525
Or a condom that makes your dick the same size

>>4636525
We will need information on how to maintain a firearm and manuals on how to disassemble them and reassemble them at first, until we develop infrastructure to support making guns.

If this quest is still ongoing, I'd like to add that while we do have to wait a long time for a gun if we're not already registered as a gun owner, it's perfectly legal to buy ammo without a license

Also has no one else ever read "stranded in fantasy"

Entertainment is a must for us and anyone else we deign to bring along, also we should download the entirety of Wikipedia on our phone, it's like only 10 gigs

>>4636464
>>4636472
>>4636479

Looks like setting your zone up wins it, the question is- where in your backyard are you setting it up?

>Near your blacksmith's shed, which will take up a solid half to 2/3rds of your 5x5m box; there's some space inside to store things and you could probably fit the van and squeeze a few people in.

>Out in the middle of the yard, where you have more space. You can always drag your anvil and other tools over, though you won't have your heating elements and chimney to work with, and you'd have to construct those later.

Follow on actions of going to find some fake jewelry at the supermarket, and sending Chance to get more gas and nab some fireworks will be written into the next post after location is picked.

>>4636536
Your father did have the Glock manual that came with the gun, but it's pretty basic.

>>4636564
Incidentally, this quest is somewhat inspired by Stranded In Fantasy. Great read.

>>4636614
>Out in the middle of the yard, where you have more space. You can always drag your anvil and other tools over, though you won't have your heating elements and chimney to work with, and you'd have to construct those later.
taking the shed sounds kinda retarded, I don't want to stay stationary wherever we land. I'd rather take a second vehicle. Also, some anon mentioned bikes. bikes are a good idea, bring mountain bikes and spare tyres.

>>4636624
+1

We'll just do what the one guy suggested and set up a tarp around it to partially conceal

>>4636624
This plus shitton more Gas. We wont be able to get gas until we drill for it and purify it? something like that.

>>4636614
>>Near your blacksmith's shed
Modern infrastructure is not easy to come by, I rather have a good modern furnace than one we could build ourselves.

>>4636697
if you ever had to pick just motoroil you know that oil does not equal oil.
literally digging for oil and refining it would be a fools errand. impossible, unless we want to put all our resources into that.
the maybe closest thing we could do is try and get biofuel, but even biofuel, in RnD would destroy our only engine
The car is a quickstart to get a foodhold in that world, nothing sustainable.
Later we could come back to try and get a fuel replacement.

>>4636614
Voting closes in one hour at 0000 GMT.

>Out in the middle of the yard, where you have more space. You can always drag your anvil and other tools over, though you won't have your heating elements and chimney to work with, and you'd have to construct those later.
If not having the shed lets us fit two vehicles then we should probably leave it. They'll be very useful while we can keep them working.

>>4636614
>Near your blacksmith's shed, which will take up a solid half to 2/3rds of your 5x5m box; there's some space inside to store things and you could probably fit the van and squeeze a few people in.

>>4636624
>>4636629
>>4636697
>>4636739
>>4636787
>>4636789
Out in the yard wins it, if only by a little bit.

____

You press.. in.. to the blue, glowing orb, and the cube relocates. It moves as you move, and you set it "back down" near the middle of your large backyard, right in the center, where you begin to construct a makeshift tarp covering. It takes you a bit, and as you work, the sun rises.

It's beautiful- and you think to yourself, this might be the last one I see for awhile. You stop for a second in your sweaty work to look at it, rising over the suburban Vermont skyline.

With that done, all that's left is to position gear, do some last minute shopping, and take a look at any prospective recruits that show up. Chance and his fiance get to your house a little after 6:30 when you finish up; it's about an hour and a half until the meetup time at the gas station near the university.

When you ask Chance about fireworks, he says he "knows a guy," whatever that means. He probably has some redneck cousin.

What are you doing?
>Going with the original plan of getting some fake jewelry from the supermarket and sending Chance to get a bunch of gasoline, then fireworks (10 min trip to the supermarket from here, likely 15-20 minutes to shop, then 20 minutes to the university gas station)
>Start hauling your stuff to the departure zone and then leave to the meetup when it's time (preposition for 1hr 10mins, which will allow you to park the van in the backyard while it's still dark and move your forge setup, and then leave to the gas station)
>Some other plan?

TIME REMAINING: 0 9 : 1 0

>>4636468
They certainly do have their own dynamic, but Chance has always been a bros-before-hoes type. It's a bit of a conflict of interest though, for sure, but you might find some people here at the gas station meetup to balance that out.

Voting for this post closes in 2 hours at 0330 GMT, unless there's an overwhelming response for one option or another.

>Going with the original plan of getting some fake jewelry from the supermarket and sending Chance to get a bunch of gasoline, then fireworks (10 min trip to the supermarket from here, likely 15-20 minutes to shop, then 20 minutes to the university gas station)
If we do end up recruiting one or two people then they can help with the hauling. If not it's not a big deal to do it later.

Wait a minute, it just occurred to me- would we be able to find one of those small, gasoline fed generators before we leave? If we're bringing along a ton of gasoline anyways it'd be helpful.

>>4636999
When you think about it, yeah- there is an ACE hardware in town. [Great Memory] You passed by it once- the only bad part is, it's about 45 minutes from home, and it's not in the direction of the university.

I just hope that we told the rest of the guys waiting at the gas station to gather their own supplies and shit, we can't buy everything for any extra people

And depending on the time crunch we might be super undersupplied with however many more people decide to join us

If we're bringing any electronics with us should we not bring some sort of solar battery we can use to charge them up?

>>4637011
You purchased a pair of solar chargers for your phone at the Bass Pro shop in this post >>4635364, and they do have a normal AC outlet and inlet. If you want something bulkier, that'd need to be bought at the hardware store.

>>4637007
You did mention that people should bring supplies for a potentially long overland journey in all your messages and posts.

>>4636990
Looks like going with the original plan wins the vote.

___

You're moving quickly now as time ticks down- finishing up with the tarps and poles, you turn to Chance.

"So, here. Take my credit card and go max it out on gas. I'm going to keep my debit and cash and go get some other stuff. Meet back here when we're done. I'm going to go meet some of my online buddies, I think more's the merrier here."

He nods slowly.

"Okay, man, if you're sure. I trust you. Let's do this."

He and Claire talk quietly as they walk off and you both head to business.

You stop by the CVS on the way to the gas station and grab about $100 bucks [-$102 DEBIT] of shitty fake jewelry, enough necklaces, rings and pendants to fill a small sack. The luster is there and the jewels look right to your untrained eye- maybe it'll fool some iron-age peasants.

Afterwards, you make your way to the meetup, where you see...

(Roll me 6d100, please!)

Rolled 34, 70, 43, 72, 35, 32 = 286 (6d100)

>>4637283

Probably should've asked if you wanted that all at once, or two at a time, or what.
Uh, just take however many rolls you want from that.

>>4637296
I'll take the first three of those; someone else please roll me three more.

>>4637283
Hope I remember how to do this right

Rolled 83, 56, 25 = 164 (3d100)

>>4637283

>>4637337
>>4637294

... as you arrive in the fresh morning sunlight, you see three individuals there. A pair of men and one woman; they're all standing awkwardly around in the spot near the rear of the station, talking to one another in quiet voices. As you pull up to the station and park the car, they look you up and down.

As you approach them, you give them the call-and-answer that you agreed upon prior to arriving.

"The eagle flies over the eastern river."

The three of them look at each other and the middle man, a tall, olive-skinned man with black, curly hair turns to you.

"And his prey he seeks, talons ever-sharp." He smiles, his teeth immaculate. "Albert! It's good to finally meet you!"

After a short bit of introductions- well, in person introductions, you know the three of them from forums you frequent- you meet:


Hassan, the olive-skinned man who answered your call-and-response. He is as described, with a lean musculature and charm to match his height. When you ask about his skills, he lists:
-Physical Aptitude: he claims to be strong, quick, and a decent fighter- "I did MMA for a few years in high school."
-Salesman's Charm: He is a car salesman for his day job, and naturally charismatic.

When you ask why he wants to come along, he claims he's tired of the rampant racism towards his heritage- but most of all because being a car salesman is killing him slowly. Why not go on an adventure?

Meredith, a middle-aged, brown-haired Caucasian woman in relatively decent shape. She's not particularly attractive- kinda homely, actually, with a snaggletoot- but she is a chemistry lab assistant, and has been throughout her life involved in various science ventures. When asked about her skills, she states:
-Chemistry Skills: "If we're really going somewhere with no good technology, basic chemistry will be super helpful. I also brought my lab tools," she says, holding up a scale.
-Cooking: "Cooking's just chemistry, really, you know." Meredith claims to have been on Iron Chef and to know how to cook up a storm. This might boost spirits pretty decently.

When asked why she wants to come along, Meredith states that she's been so deep into her studies and career all her life that she's never had any fun. Even in college, she says, she was always studying when everyone else was partying. And it'd be nice to be the top in her field for once.

[1/2]

>>4637354

**Jack** is a shorter Caucasian man with a buzzcut, a scar on his neck and a missing left arm that he reveals as he removes his prosthetic. He is a vet of the Iraq War and was in the Marines for 8 years; since then, he's bounced from gig to gig before ending up in a dead end desk job at "some corporation, doesn't matter which one".
When asked about his skills, he says:
-Shooting: "Well, despite the one-armedness, I'm still a decent shot, bossman. I was my squad's designated marksman and I never let them down, and I won't let you down either."
-Resourcefulness: "I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid, and they teach you a lot of stuff in SERE- that's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training- so I know a bit."
[Super Smart triggers]- Jack might be initially rough around the edges, but he seems dedicated and committed, and seems to already look to you as his leader, even though you're probably 10 years his junior. This could prove to be useful- pardon the pun, but he'd be a great right hand man.

Which of them are you taking along?
>Hassan
>Meredith
>Jack
>None of them

Voting closes in 1 hour at 0750 GMT.

Current time: 08:30AM

TIME REMAINING: 0 8 : 2 0

>>4637355
Is there any reason we can't take everyone?

>>4637357
You absolutely can take them all!

>Take all of them if possible

If we absolutely can only pick one
>Jack

The fact we recognize he'll be loyal is huge, and his skills will be the biggest fill for us. The three of us we have so far can probably cook fine, and chemistry may not be as important when its hard to obtain raw elements. Charisma is nice and all, but I feel Chance already has plenty, even if it's not as good as Hassan's. We don't have a good sharpshooter who can make use of the bow or guns yet though, and the survival skills will always be important, especially if we ever need to split up.

Honestly though I like and wanna bring all of them.

>>4637355
>Take them all.

Ask Jack if he knows of any place nearby that sells Military grade Body armor, and Helmets. If not we can just go to a Surplus.

inb4 Glowies

>Meredith
>Jack
Bringing a charmer who knows how to fight rings some alarm bells, but that's me being inherently suspicious. Hassan could definitely be a help if things don't go to shit, but they feel like a risk if they do.

>>4637355
>Bring all of them

>>4637355
>None of them
Hassan is going to a medieval society to escape racism? Good luck with that lol
The lab girl will break and burn under pressure
a one-armed fighter is useless, the handgun only has this many shots.

>>4637408
An important point that I forgot to note is that Jack has brought along his Daniel Defense AR-15, with almost 600 rounds of ammo in magazines and "boxes and boxes" of extra.

>>4637417
Alright, take the geezer then. Who knows, maybe we'll encounter a magician who can help him regrow his arm.

Looks like we need a runoff vote. Jack is a shoe in; are you bringing Hassan and Meredith? Ranked choice voting for this one.

>Bring Meredith and Hassan
>Bring only Meredith
>Bring only Hassan
>Bring neither

Rate these choices 1-4.

>>4637431
>Bring Meredith and Hassan
>Bring only Meredith

>>4637431
>Bring Meredith and Hassan (1)
>Bring Hassan (2)
>Bring Meredith (3)
>Bring neither (4)

>>4637431
>Bring only Meredith 1
>Bring Meredith and Hassan 2
>Bring neither 3
>Bring only Hassan 4

>>4637431
>Bring Meredith and Hassan(2)
>Bring only Meredith (1)
>Bring only Hassan (3)
>Bring neither (4)

I don't trust salesmen, but we cant go at it alone

>>4637433
>>4637435
>>4637436
>>4637443

Though you hesitate a bit, it looks like both Hassan and Meredith are coming along. You don't quite trust Hassan for reasons you can't fully articulate, but it'll be good to have the hands. After fueling up the van to max and grabbing a few more cans of gas, you and your new merry band set off- where to?

You are now in the waning hours of your preparatory time- the gas station talks took a good while, and you've still got to drive back home. If there's anything else you need to do, now is the time; between the now six pairs of hands, it's still going to take about 3 hours to load everything. That leaves you with 4 or so hours.

Where to?
>Go to the surplus store to try and find some military equipment (>>4637371 Jack isn't aware of anywhere nearby, and his nearest buddy who does that kind of thing is in another state- definitely not within your time window, unfortunately.)
>Head home to take a nap and then load up
>Go get a heavy-duty phone like you were talking about
>Something else?

>>4637486
TIME REMAINING: 0 7 : 0 0

>>4637486
Go home and prepare for the bug hunt

>>4637486
Vote for this one closes in 5 hours at 1700 GMT.

Also valid is a timeskip option- if you feel like you're prepared, we can always skip to having everything that you've gotten ready all loaded up in the zone and the moment of departure at hand.
>Timeskip?

>>4637486
Could we get gas masks somewhere? It would to a degree hopefully cancel out poison spells and whatnot. Also if we can download some info/get more books, maybe about archaeology or excavation or something like that we can explore ruins properly? Maybe we can buy a swiss pocket knife somewhere, other than that i think we just get ready boys.

>>4637486
>Go get a heavy-duty phone like you were talking about
getting the charger without the phone is retaded. Remember to put it in flight mode.

>Head to campus and see if we can check out more books
>Send Jack and Hassan to the hardware store you mentioned to pick up some things.
>Send the rest to pick up that phone and head to the surplus store
I'd like to get a last round of shopping in before we leave, although I don't know if we have money left to work with. Did we actually mention the isekai bullshit and everything online, or what? Trying to figure out if we can convince the others to chip in anything for final preparations.

>>4637529
Nigga all we need is our balls and a gun. Stop pussy footing

i know we got a lot of ammo for our pistol, but it's still a finite amount, and only the one gun.

later down the line (way, way later probably), if we could bring the possibility of consistently having even the shittiest makeshift blunderbusses or slam-fire shotguns, that'd be great long term, and we now have both a chemist and ex-military person with relevant backgrounds to help hoard research on the topic.

>>4637639
Thats a good point actually, take the nerd girl to the library as well, she'll know which books to grab.

>>4637529
+1ing this. If possible, let's swing the van by the house first since it's close to at least show everyone the glowy cube so they know this is legit, just to dispel any lingering doubts.

>>4637553
I'm all around getting moving now too, but this will probably only be one or two more post rounds max of prepping, and will be worth in the long run.

>>4637529
+1

Oh yeah also wanted to ask QM, when we finish prep and teleport to new world, can we get a sheet of all the things we've brought with us that we can use for reference?

Considering that there were several ideas in the posts, we'll combine all of them and get the ball rolling on final preparations.

------
With your new party in tow, you've got some last minute shopping to do.

>>4637815
First off, before anything, you stop the van by the house to introduce everyone to Chance and Claire and show the cube off. If they had doubts before, they certainly don't now.

>>4637517
You drive to and stop by the surplus store to grab any body armor, helmets, and gas masks you can find. There's no body armor of any kind, but you do find a pair of Russian SSh-68 Cold War-era helmets and a matching pair of NVA gas masks with two filters each. This is a pretty penny, though, and blows out the rest of your debit card monies- you ask how much the Swiss pocket knife on the counter costs and the guy throws it in with your purchase happily.

You also ask Meredith to download everything she can find onto her phone about archeology, excavation, and ancient-history for the purpose of ruins-exploring.


>>4637528
On your way back home, you stop by one of the major mobile service providers and grab a heavy duty Nokia brick-phone with a resilient screen, solid case, and a charging cable. There goes the rest of your cash, but hey, is what it is- this might be the hardiest device that's going along with you. [Super Smart] On a lark, you also grab a pair of earphones.

>>4637529
You split the team up to go to campus to grab a few more books and the hardware store to grab a small gas-powered generator, telling everyone to meet you back at the house in 2 hours to finish up.

All that said and done, you're left at home with 3 hours and 30 minutes to go; Chance was able to acquire what looks like a large box of fireworks and about a dozen more cans of gas.

Well, last call.. what are you doing before it's time to start moving everything and get out of here?
>Reminisce about the good and bad times in this world
>Write a note for anyone who might come looking for you and the others, and a final internet post
>Take a power nap and brew up some coffee for everyone so you're at your best
>Talk to Chance about plans when you get through


>>4637885
I'm actually in the process of building a pastebin right now that'll serve as a sort of party character sheet for this quest!

TIME REMAINING: 0 3: 3 0

>>4637907
>>Write a note for anyone who might come looking for you and the others, and a final internet post

>>4637907
This vote closes in ~4 hours at 0000 GMT- make sure you get any final write-in ideas in, because this is the last chunk of time that Albert has before it's time to go for good!

>>4637907
>Write a note for anyone who might come looking for you and the others, and a final internet post

Also, in that dash to grab books at the library, did we manage to get gunpowder/firearm stuff as described by >>4637639 ?

>>4637943
You sent Meredith to grab the books, so if you instructed her to, yes- though that will limit the amount of other books she can check out.

>>4637912
+1, let's leave things off the right way

>Write a note for anyone who might come looking for you and the others, and a final internet post
To our disappearance being used as fodder for shitty 'horror' youtube videos who theorize it was aliens or psychosis and it being believed in by every 14 year-old!
...oh, and include a group photo at the end, it'd be wholesome

Paste is completed; please let me know if I forgot in items that I wrote in a post, and feel free to ask questions.

https://pastebin.com/0qGnxrbb

>>4637947

sounds good to me

also, awesome quest so far. thanks for running

>>4638003
You wrote the stove, but no pots and pans, which we wanted to buy, and need to actually cook anything.

>>4638049
The Jetboil comes with a pair of medium sized pots, but I'll make sure that's annotated.

>>4638017
Echoing this sentiment, this is a really fun creative exercise. Even been asking my buddies 'wat do' in a scenario like this.

>>4638064
>>4638017
Glad that you guys are enjoying- it's about to get a lot more exciting, for sure.

>>4637907
livestream getting isekai'd

>>4638275
I'm down, but let's start the livestream and post about it like 10 or 15 minutes before it's time to go. That way we have enough time for people to chime in and for everyone coming with us to give a last testament and whatnot, but not enough time for people to track us down and fuck things up.

Also before we do it get a feel for if everyone who's coming with us is cool with that

>>4637912
>>4637943
>>4637996
>>4638275
>>4638292
(Apologies for the wait; had some real-life shit pop up.)

Looks like writing a note and posting on the 'Net, as well as a delayed stream, wins it.

___

It's down to the wire now, and you're feeling the pressure. Honestly, nothing really compares- not track trials, not any test you've ever taken, not the first time you saw a mountain lion while running the trails- none of it is the same as the excitement of the journey you're about to embark upon. You write a short note:

I, Albert Hawthorne, do of sound mind and body declare that I have departed this mortal plane for a journey unlike any other. It is not suicide of which I speak, but a true journey, a transportation to another world, from which my companions and I may not return. I wish it to be known that any of my goods that I do not take with me should be donated to charity, and that I be remembered as an explorer.

Signed,
Albert

Yeah, that should do.

With that done, you set up a quick livestream on Facebook, Twitch and Youtube to run all at the same time. You don't have a ton of viewers, subscribers, or friends on Facebook, but at least the video will be out there.

Well, now begins the work. Between yourself, Chance, Claire, Meredith, Jack and Hassan, many hands makes light work, and you manage to cram everything- your rental van, Chance's truck, and the rest- fit in the 5x5m box.

The livestream starts and everyone says their piece- Jack is the only one who doesn't, giving the camera a simple wave with his prosthetic. As the timer in your head counts down to five minutes, you snap a quick picture of the group, and leave a polaroid copy pinned to the ground just outside of the cube. Memories.

The time hits three minutes.

Two minutes.

A minute-

The booming voice, again.

ALBERT, YOU HAVE FOUND MANY COMPANIONS. THIS IS GOODLY AND WILL AID YOU MUCH. YOUR ARTIFICE AND WEAPONS SEEM WELL IN ORDER. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, AND IF YOU HAVE DESIRE, YOU MAY FIND MY WORLDLY TEMPLE AT THE PEAK OF THE GREAT DESERT MOUNTAIN OF KHARRAM. SAFE TRAVELS, SORROWFUL ONE..

And with that, a white energy begins to spill out of the portal, enveloping all the materials in this strange liquid power. It feels almost tingly, and as you look around, you lock eyes with Chance. He smiles and nods his head. Reassuring- and then like that... you're gone.

TIME REMAINING: 00:00...

[1/2]

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>>4638562
You feel a tugging, pulling feeling in the pit of your stomach; it would make you queasy if you already weren't so bewildered by the nature of this travel. White flecks whizz by your face, occasionally stained with blue or green. As you continue to observe- alone now, somehow- your vision improves, and you can tell that this is your new reality replacing the old one.

It's a long moment, but it is only a moment- perhaps no longer than a minute- before you feel the tugging feeling stop and can feel your feet upon solid ground again. You take a breath- were you not breathing for a solid minute there without realizing it?- and crisp, cold air hits your lungs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeEvqGa0QN4

You and your companions are spread out across the breadth of this wide mountain meadow, the flowers and grasses slowly waving in the breeze. It's cold, but not unreasonably so, and the sun that you're familiar with is accompanied by a strange, blue light in the sky that shines ever so faintly. It's a beautiful afternoon in this new world, marking an auspicious start to your ventures.

As you stand up and stare off into the distance, you can see a gently running stream that heads downhill, towards the exit of this wide meadow. You also turn and look up- wide, snow-capped mountains tower above you. This is a beautiful sight, [Super Smart] but it's also devoid of any animal life you can see, so probably not the best place for a permanent basecamp.

As you look around, you see that the other members of your group have made it, and with the vehicles and supplies in good shape as well- though getting the van and truck out of this mountain pass is going to be a logistical nightmare. Chance jogs over to you as everyone else marvels at the absolute, majestic beauty.

"So, bossman," he says playfully, "what's the next move?"

"I'm not sure," you say, stroking your chin, "I'd like to know more about what's around us, but I'd also like to be less exposed to the elements. And maybe it'd be good to see if there's anything we're missing.."

He's not wrong- it's time to make first moves here. If time is the same here as it is in your world, you don't have many hours until sunset.

-Pick two options- three people each.

>Send a scouting party consisting of yourself and two others downhill, towards that stream and the mouth of the meadow.
>Unpack the supplies and take inventory.
>Expand the tarp setup a little bit with your tents and make a small basecamp.
>Set a guard duty of three rotating people, armed with [the crossbow/the pistol/Jack's rifle (must be Jack, he will not surrender it to anyone else)/bats/nothing].

Voting closes in 2 hours at 0730GMT- but you're also no longer on an in-game time limit!

>>4638585
>Send a scouting party consisting of yourself and two others downhill, towards that stream and the mouth of the meadow.

Us, Hassan, Meredith. We should take weapons with us too, pistol for us and bats for the others

>Set a guard duty of three rotating people, armed with [the crossbow/the pistol/Jack's rifle (must be Jack, he will not surrender it to anyone else)/bats/nothing]

The other three should simply stay behind, and the two who aren't on guard duty should sort through the stuff.

Hopefully our scouting can give us a better idea of where to make basecamp proper - especially with Claire's insight on land stuff as a farmer.

>Send a scouting party consisting of yourself and two others downhill, towards that stream and the mouth of the meadow.

Let's go with Chance and Claire. I'm tempted to get a better read on the new peeps too, but it might be good to see how the people we care about most are feeling, as well as talk about what our goals are gonna be

>Expand the tarps a bit to set up a Basecamp

This is a good task for the others- simple and to the point

>Send a scouting party consisting of yourself and two others downhill, towards that stream and the mouth of the meadow.
Us, Claire, and Meredith. We should bring the crossbow, the pistol, and a bat.
>Unpack the supplies and take inventory.

>>4638694
Actually, I missed that it was probably close to sunset. Nix
>Unpack the supplies
, I'll go with
>make a small basecamp
instead.

By the way we remembered to bring our Blacksmith stuff, right?

>>4638724
You did; it's under the "laying around" section in your Inventory.

>>4638732
Sweet jams

>>4638596
>>4638694
>>4638697

Alright, so a scouting party with Albert, Claire, and Meredith is going out while the others unpack tents and make a small basecamp for the group.

___

It's a quick decision on your part.
"I'm going to take Claire and Meredith down that way," you say, pointing to the stream at the opening of the meadow, "and see what's down there. We can't stay up here forever- nothing to hunt."

Chance nods. "Yeah, makes sense. I'll get the other guys onto setting us up a little camp for the night. Don't think we'll be moving fast on this terrain and it looks like the sun's setting, anyhow."

Chance moves off and he, Jack and Hassan begin to converse quietly as they setup the base camp. You can already tell it's going to be pretty meagre, but it is what it is.

You walk over to where Meredith is sitting, sketching something in one of her lab books. It's clear as you walk up that she intends to document your experiences- the lettering is clinical, the drawing is boxed in by tight lines, and the language is scientific and precise. She snaps the book shut after finishing up the quick sketch and turns to you.

"Well, what's the plan?"

You grab Claire as well, and make sure that the two of them get a pair of bats from Chance's truck, which is sitting awkwardly with two wheels in a large ditch. Problems for later, you think to yourself.

You, Claire and Meredith walk away from the others, about 5 minutes down the valley. Finally, you crest a small hill and can see the river up close- [Super Smart] looks like snowmelt from the mountains and should be safe to drink with boiling, unless snow here is weird.

Now, however, you turn your attentions down. A long, steep, zig-zagging animal track runs down the otherwise untraversable mountainside to a lower plateau, where a more clear dirt path is. Perhaps a sign of civilization, or at least, intelligent beings?
Your ears strain to hear some strange sound. Claire and Meredith also cock their heads to listen...

CHALLENGE: DC 45, 3d100 x3 (Three separate people roll 3d100, please.)
Some strange, almost metallic sound rings in the distance.. what is it?

Rolled 23, 79, 55 = 157 (3d100)

>>4638784

Rolled 81, 73, 25 = 179 (3d100)

Rolled 24, 25, 56 = 105 (3d100)

>>4638784

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>>4638797
>>4638791
>>4638786
CHALLENGE results:
Albert: 23/100, 79/100, 55/100 [Success!]
Claire: 81/100, 73/100, 25/100 [Success!]
Meredith: 24/100, 25/100, 56/100 [Success!]

The three of you all hear it- it's the distant sound of metal-on-metal clashing. Whatever it is, it's fast, repetitive, and almost rhythmic in nature, but it's definitely too far away to get a good idea of what exactly is going on. You'd have to descend to the lower plateau to get a good idea, and it's a long way down- probably about a 20 minute walk.

Meredith turns to you and Claire with a strange look on her face.
"That doesn't sound natural to you guys, right?"

"No," Claire says, hesitating, "not at all.."

>Go down and investigate the sound after letting the rest of the group know
>Go get the rest of the group, and have them abandon their setting up to come back you up
>Leave it be, and let everyone know to keep an eye on the mouth of the meadow tonight, just in case
>Write in?

>>4638803

>Go down and investigate the sound after letting the rest of the group know

It'd only help to be informed. We're almost definitely gonna spend a few nights in the area whether we like it or not.

>>4638630
Sounds good. We don't abscond with all the females like the other poster had in mind.

>>4638807
That vote closed already; the net total was in favor of Claire and Meredith, so that's who you're with.

>>4638803
>Go down and investigate the sound after letting the rest of the group know
Kinda wishing we'd grabbed binoculars before leaving earth.

>>4638803
>Go down and investigate the sound after letting the rest of the group know
Slowpoke poster here

>>4638803
>Go down and investigate the sound after letting the rest of the group know