The team concludes its business in Jeffton. They sold one handgun, the light assault weapon, 100 rounds of handgun ammo and 100 rounds of rifle ammo for a total price of 350 grams of gold and silver. That leaves the group with:
1 handguns (50 gr)
1 rifle (150 gr with no ammo)
1 heavy assault weapon (400 gr with no ammo)
2 laster pistols (partially charged from the hissers) (30 gr each)
3 sets of body armor (250 gr each)
700 rounds of ammunition (see below)
Handgun - 100 rounds (5 rounds per gr)
Rifle/LAW - 200 rounds (3 rounds per gr)
HAW - 200 rounds (2 rounds per gr)
From Jeffton, a well-used path heads south towards the village of Fort Attson. The group reaches the village by mid-afternoon and it is immediately clear that something is wrong. It was not all that long ago that Rosin came through this same village, which had about 150 villagers. Now, from the distance, smoke can be seen rising from the walled village. Unlike many of the walled villages in the baronry, Fort Attson was fortified by a stone wall instead of a wooden pallisade.
The smoke drifts lazily into the sky, as if whatever happened in the village happened many hours ago. Shooter's scan of the village, using his high powered rifle scope, seems to confirm this. Although he cannot see into the village itself, what he does see indicates that the village was probably attacked. He sees a large breach in the wall and several bodies of guardsmen laying about.
GM: Let me know how you want to approach the village. Will you approach it openly, or send Cal ahead invisible to scout it out? Right now, you are about half a kilometer from the village which is nestled among some low hills. The team just crested one such hill which brought the village into view.
ROSIN: {That's Fort Attson ahead. I was there not long ago, about 150 people lived there. It seemed to be an especially well defended town, but apparently not defended enough.} Rosin doesn't seemed much concerned about them one way or the other. Her deafness had left her isolated from most, plus she lived in hard times. While she wouldn't have participated in a attack against a town, that it had happened didn't cause her grief. However, she did add, {If someone can attack Fort Attson and get away with in, no town in the area is safe.}
ROSIN (OOC): I'm extrapolating the rare stone wall that Fort Attson was a particularly tough target for a town. Does Rosin have any idea of what sort of things could have made the hole in the wall? A big artifact gun of course, but does she know of something people could still make that could do that?
CAL: I'd recommend send CAL on a scouting expedition....
MARCO (GM): Can I do a mind-scan to find minds from this distance?
PETER: {Cal, scout ahead and let us know what you see. Don't take any risks, and let us know if you need any backup. Remember, I can follow invisibly if you need covert assistance. Marco, take a look to see if anyone's alive in there. You should be able to get at least that much information. If you can contact a mind and learn more, all the better. But nothing too invasive. See what you can manage with surface thoughts for now. Shooter, keep a lookout with your scope. Let me know if you see anything in the breach or on the walls. Rosin, we need to know everything you can remember about the Fort - how many soldiers it might have had, location of important buildings inside, anything might be helpful. Erict, I want you to watch the surrounding countryside. If this was the work of raiders, we want to make sure they don't catch us unawares.}
ROCK: Rock is fine with how things are progressing and will keep his attention focused more close at hand, especially underground, to make sure the group is as safe as possible.
CAL: Cal will head out towards the fort, at a slight angle to the right. After a few paces, he shimmers into invisibility ...
CAL: Cal will use his sharp senses and tracking abilities to get an idea of what happened and who might or might not be still in the town (and if not, which way did they go).
As Marco begins a mind scan of the area ahead, Cal moves forward, disappearing from view.
Marco takes his time scanning the area and picks up a few human minds in the city. He counts less than 10 minds. He is unable to pick up any thoughts from them because, as soon as he tries to switch to telepathy, he loses their position.
GM: For Marco, Mind Scan and Telepathy are both in the same multipower so he cannot find a mind with mind scan, and then switch to telepathy. To use telepathy, he will have to see the target.
Meanwhile, Cal has moved closer to the city. He circles the city looking for more breaches but finds none. He keeps the team appraised of the situation via the mind link.
After circling the city, he reaches the breach and carefully enters. He moves cautiously trying to avoid moving any rocks or debris so as not to give away his presence. He starts moving around the interior of the walled city. All of the buildings have been badly damaged or, in some cases, completely destroyed. Cal believes that large energy weapons were employed against the town. In one building, he finds a young woman of about 14 hiding behind some crates. She is shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.
As he continues his recon, he encounters a couple more survivors.
GM: I'm assuming that Cal is NOT going to investigate every building thoroughly. My assumption is that he is doing a cursory scan of the town. He does not find any sign of the attackers.
CAL: Cal will not investigate every building personally. Once it's clear he's in no immediate danger, he'll find a relatively defensible location and switch from invisibility to clairvoyance to search the buildings. He will continue to keep everyone apprised of what he finds through the mind-link.
MARCO: {Cal, can you guess at what type of weapons or what level of tech was used in the attack?
ROCK: On Cal's initial report the group should move closer. The main concern Rock would have is if the attackers were lurking on the outskirts of town. My guess is that they have what they came for and have moved on. Talking with the survivors would be the next logical step to learn more.
CAL: {There doesn't seem to be anything here that's an immediate threat - booby traps aside - and there are some survivors who may be able to provide more information. It also appears that there is a single breach of the wall by some sort of energy weapon. Large, perhaps a single shot? Though, only one shot would have been necessary.}
CAL: (GM) Can Cal determine how long ago the attacks took place?
PETER: {I agree with Rock. Let's advance cautiously. From the sound of what you've described, Cal, whatever did this is no longer here. We'll move in and take up a defensive position in town. It's probably overcautious, but it pays to be careful. Cal, find us a place you think will be suitable and lead us in. As we get closer Marco and I can zero in on the people in there. We'l pass that on to Erict, who can try and check their health from afar. It may be that some of the survivors are injured. Rosin, keep an eye out for anyone you know. Once we have a defensive position, we'll try and make contact with the natives.}
PETER (GM): FWIW, Peter will keep his mental invisibility up - just in case.
CAL: While mentally investigating all the buildings, CAL will try to locate a defensible position for the team. Also, are there enough bodies in/around the town to account for Rosin's estimate of approx. 150 individuals?
GM: Cal believes that the attack probably took place at least 8 to 10 hours ago, and not more than 24 hours ago. He has not found anywhere close to 150 bodies. He only recalls seeing half a dozen or so bodies, all soldiers.
While the rest of the group cautiously approaches the town, Cal finds a secure location and begins using his Clairvoyance to look around the town. Over the course of the next 15 minutes, Cal has searched about half of the buildings in town and counted 6 survivors, mostly children but one adult woman. As he is searching one of the buildings, he sees a group of 6 men armed with advanced weaponry. Two are armed with some sort of energy rifle and all of them have sidearms. All are dressed in similar clothing and, in fact, all six look like they could be identical twins. Their expressions are blank as they search the rubble. Even as they search, they find a young boy of about 10 or 11. The boy tries to flee, but one of the men grabs him (the man moved very quickly, much more so than a normal human normally moves). He starts speaking to the boy. Cal can hear their conversation and understands it well enough to know that it is the local language, but is not able to follow what they are saying. After a short time, the man lets go of the boy, who runs off.
CAL: {We've got company! 6 identical looking guys with modern looking weapons. Two rifles, all six with sidearms. They're apparently looking for something.} Cal will relay as much of the sounds of their conversation with the boy as possible, as well as describing the encounter - including their quick reflexes nabbing the boy and the groups location and movements.
PETER: {Can we get safely to where we're going without encountering them? If not, vector us into a secondary defensive position we can get into. Everyone else, stay on alert. Cal and Marco, maintain covert surveilance of their position. Let me know if you need me to participate. Once we get to our position I want Rock, Rosin, and Shooter to shore up its defenses as best we can without drawing too much attention. I'm hoping it won't come to a fight, but I want to be ready if it does. Rosin, do these guys sound at all familiar to you? And Erict, assuming we do get close enough, can you discern their genetics enough to knwo whether they're identical sextuplets, clones, or just brothers with a close resemblance?}
PETER: Through all this, Peter will hustle everyone into town to get to whatever defensible position Cal directs them to.
MARCO (GM): Now that we have a count that Cal has found, are these 6 guys "new" minds, or are they not detectable?
SHOOTER: All levels are his Force Field are active.
GM: During his mind scans, Marco did not come across 6 minds in close proximity. It could be that he detected one, or maybe even two of them, but not all six. Right now Marco does not have common points of reference with Cal to coordinate their position.
The group moves quickly to the breach observing finely-honed squad tactics. Rock and Shooter reach the breach first (by design) and see no threats. The rest of the group moves up to cover them as they enter. Several minutes later, the team has joined Cal in ruins of a partially destroyed building. Cal lets everyone know the location of the six men, who are now on the move a couple of streets away. They are slowly searching the town.
ROCK: What was the material the walls were made out of? Is it natural stone?
GM: The walls are made of stone mortared together in a fairly crude fashion.
PETER: {Okay, let's set up our defenses asap. Cal, you, Marco, and I will work to keep tabs on the six approaching. Marco, let's try and coordinate our scanning. I'll try and support your efforts and see if that helps. Clearly they have some mental defenses. That may mean they also have other mental abilities as well. Shooter, you're in charge of getting the defenses together. Let us know if you need to pull Marco or me into that job. When the search team arrives, I'll have an illusory me make contact.}
PETER (GM): The plan for when that happens is to have Peter take the shape of something innocuous (like a piece of furniture or some large rubble), and create an illusion of himself to make the actual contact while everyone else stays behind cover. That way if they take offensive action, they'll hit the illusion and not any of us.
ERICT: Upon first discovering Fort Attson, Erict would have first attempted to sense life, and then sent out a pulse of touch energy to feel the world and this town in particular (Spatial Awareness).
TECH: Sense Life 15-, [rolled 8], ranged, discriminatory, analyze sense, passive so cannot be detected. I can't remember any bonuses with this roll, don't think there were any.
TECH: Spatial awareness 15-, [rolled 7], +2 vs range, and any creature touched by it would get a perception roll at -5 to feel the feathery touch, unless in an extremely alert state (in which case there's less penalty). If I push the awareness out PAST such a creature, they get bonuses because the pulse feels stronger to them. Basically I'd start small with a 50m pulse and then gradually work my way out to 75m, 100m, even 150m and 200m if I haven't detected anything. Once I do, I will have to make a determination if it's potentially hostile and whether or not to keep going.
GM: Erict can sense that there are still some survivors among the ruins of the village and can pinpoint the location of some of those who are relatively close. Extending much further increases the "clutter factor" where it becomes easy to miss stuff.
ERICT (GM): Good enough, thank you, I will report what I sense through the mindlink, not that it matters, just trying to participate.
The clone team (for lack of a better term) is heading in a direction that is generally away from where the group is located. After getting better coordinates from Cal, Rock and Erict are able to focus their penetrating senses on the clones and watch as they continue their slow search of the village.
ERICT (GM): Can I sense any difference among the clone team, or any unusual similarity, from here? I believe my Detect DNA sense is not penetrating, so would require LOS to use? Or since it's based on touch, and my touch is ranged through Spatial Awareness, I can use it?
TECH: Sense Life 15-, [rolled 14].
TECH: Detect DNA 15-, [rolled 9]. (Ranged, Discriminatory, Analyze)
TECH: Spatial awareness 15-, [rolled 9], +2 vs range.
GM: You would have to buy N-Ray with the Touch group to have your other touch senses penetrating. With your spatial awareness, you can just sense that they are there. Your Discriminatory and Analyze with the Touch Group allows you to distinguish between the six men despite the fact that they appear very similar. Erict's senses tell him that though they are similar, they are not identical.
The team continues to watch the clone team as they search the village. They find a couple more terrified survivors whom they interrogate. Their manner is impassive, as if they don't really care that the people they are interrogating are scared and have just gone through a terrible ordeal. By the same token, they are also not overly cruel. Their interrogation is entirely verbal and they seem to be patiently asking the same questions over and over until they get a response. When they are done with their interrogation, the let go of their captive, who promptly runs off and hides.
Cal is not able to understand the language but he tries to imitate it for the benefit of Peter and Rosin. From this, Peter is able to determine that the clone team is asking what happened here and who attacked the village. The response does not come across cleanly and could be interpreted as glowing/flickering, expensive/golden, warriors/robots.
Eventually the clone team reaches the far side of the village where the main gates are still closed. One of the clones easily lifts the massive bar across the front gate and the clone team exits the village following the trail to the southeast.
PETER: {'Glowing golden robots.' That doesn't sound good. Still, they've come and gone. We should see what we can do in the here and now. Cal, keep a lookout on the clones until they get a good distance away. Shooter? Can you find a good high spot to keep an overwatch in case they or anyone else comes back? For the rest of us, I want to try and get some kind of a shelter together for the survivors.}
PETER: {Rock and Cal, I think you're best suited to try and salvage supplies. Cal, you should be able to find them, and Rock, you should be able to recover them from wherever they are. Focus on food, medical supplies, and survival gear, if you can. Erict and Marco, you guys are best to set up an area for medical treatment. Erict can diagnose and treat Marco can handle communication. Until we can get you some patients, see what you can do about setting things up as a shelter - beds, tables, that sort of thing.}
PETER: {Rosin, you and I will make contact. We both know the lingo, you look like you fit in, and by the time I head out to the street, I will too. We'll try and look like local merchants just come to town and trying to help as best we can. That's pretty close to the way things really are as makes no never mind.}
PETER: {Key thing right now is to gather everyone together to make sure they're safe and uninjured. We might have scavengers - human or animal - by nightfall. I want everyone somewhere safe and the most valuable supplies secured before then. In the meanwhile, we all stay alert and give a shout at the first sign of trouble. Any questions? Suggestions?}
PETER (GM): My proposed plan is to gather people and supplies together first and worry about questioning them once we're all safe and the most important salvage from the town secured. Obviously our cart is likewise secured. For the first contact, Peter will shapeshift into clothing and general appearance that Rosin thinks would be most reassuring to the locals. Given that people are probably still in shock, it ought to be fairly easy to herd them into a makeshift shelter. Heck, most of them are probably waiting for someone in authority to come and help them. They probably won't question us too much if we look right and act right. (And, in fact, we're nottrying to take advantage of them, just help.) Besides, Peter has very good people skills. And FWIW, Peter will use his skills as
an intelligence agent to see if there are any subtle clues he can detect as to why this attack took place, or what it was directed at (assuming it wasn't just a random attack). Let me know if there are any particualr rolls needed.
Over the course of the next couple of hours, the group rounds up all of the Fort Attson survivors. There are 11 total - 1 adult woman, 3 teenage boys, 2 teenage girls and 5 children (4 boys and 1 girl) between the ages of 7 and 12. As Peter predicted, most are in a state of shock. Injuries are very minor. None are entirely sure of what happened. A few recall seeing men in glowing golden armor killing anyone who resisted, and rounding up everyone else. Others call them robots rather than men in armor.
Rock and Cal scour the town for food supplies as well as blankets and other items to set up shelter for the survivors.
Shooter climbs to the top of the tallest building and keeps watch.
Peter and Marco spend a little time retrieving images from the minds of the survivors. The images are chaotic at best, but they do manage to retrieve mental images from the previous night. Some include images of the glowing, flickering attackers. The attackers appear to be about two to two and a half meters tall. They are either robots or men wearing golden armor that covers their entire body. Energy weapons are built in to the arms. The flickering glow probably represents some sort of force field.
PETER: Throughout the remaining hours of the day, Peter does what he can to put the pieces together in what happened, all the while trying to comfort the survivors as best he can. Thankfully, while not a parent himself, his weeks travelling with the Zhodani children felling the Maginite invasion had given him - and all the team, to be honest - a good deal of experience in dealing with children who have sufferred a terrible shock. At least these kids would benefit from the missteps they'd made before.
PETER: {So it looks like there's another hostile force out here. First priority, I think, is to get word to the local authorities about what happened - though it may be that the clone squad was their representative. I hope not, actually. If so, it would show that the king has an appalling lack of concern for the well-being of the survivors.}
PETER: {Next, we want to get these survivors somewhere safe. They're by and large too young and too shell-shocked to leave on their own. Even if the golden attackers don't return, there are likely to be looters and other unsavory sorts coming by before long. Unless anyone has objections, I say we stay here tonight and plan to leave for the next nearest settlement tomorrow. Rosin, where's the nearest place that's likely to have a representative of the king?}
PETER: {In the meanwhile, we want to take anything of value that we can get our hands on. Whatever we leave behind we have to assume will go to looters. Priority should go to local records, wealth, and high tech equipment - particularly weapons. We'll want to segregate what we find for return to the locals when we drop off the survivors. It might be best of we could salvage another cart. We should try and work with the surviving woman, since she's lived here most recentrly - though given her current mental condition, she might not be of great help.Barring that, we defer to Rosin on all local matters.}
ROCK: Once Peter indicates that we should stay in the village tonight, Rock makes an effort to shore up the village's defenses. Repairing all breeches in the wall as well as fortifying others will be his focus so that from the outside the village does not look like it has been compromised. He will also survey the village and make tactical suggestions on how best to defend the village. He will work with Shooter to confirm tactics. TACTICS: [rolled 13]
ERICT: Erict was taught tactics as part of his schooling way back in the mists of time, and will attempt to assist where he can.
TECH: Needs 15- [rolled 11]
The group prepares to spend the night in Fort Attson. Peter spends his time trying to piece together what happened while Rock and Erict work on fortifying the city again. With Rock's unique talents, and Erict's eye for tactics, the job takes only a couple of hours.
Meanwhile, Shooter and Cal maintain watch - Shooter from the highest point in the village, and Cal as a roving watcher. Marko helps Peter with the survivors.
Eventually, after a lot of questioning and occasional telepathy, a picture emerges of what happened. Sometime last night, probably around 3 am, a city watchman called out a warning of an approaching force wearing glowing, flickering golden armor. Shortly thereafter, the city bells began tolling, warning of imminent attack. All soldiers and able-bodied men and women went to their assigned positions to defend the city. The attackers used some sort of large energy weapon to breach the wall and get inside. The weapons of the city's defenders appeared to be completely useless against the attackers. It quickly became apparent that the attackers were not trying to take over the city but were instead trying to capture prisoners. With little hope of prevailing against the glowing warriors/robots, the villagers surrendered. Then the golden warriors begain searching the village for those who were hiding. They also took everything of value, including any artifacts of ancient technology.
They departed heading south, herding their prisoners with them. They were on foot.
GM: Rosin knows that the next closest village is Whitter, about 10 km southeast of here in the direction of Hawkshorn. Another 20 km or so beyond Whitter is the village of New Center. Hawkshorn is 10 km south of New Center (about 40 km from Fort Attson).
GM: I will work on a map of the area that Rosin can draw for the group.
PETER (GM): So they took all items of high tech and all items of value. What about town records? Typically those would only be of value to the local government. If we can't bring anything else to the local authorities, we can at least bring them whatever public records we could salvage. That could be invaluable in figuring out who was actually taken, what was taken, etc. I'd have to imagine that the government in Hawkshorn would appreciate having such records saved, even if they would appear to be trash to everyone else.
PETER: {Okay, everyone, I'd like us to be ready to head out first thing tomorrow morning. I want whatever supplies we can forage ready to go in the morning. If we can get a cart with some kind of beast of burden, that would be ideal. If not, we'll make do as best we can. WE need to get the survivors to Whitter as soon as possible. We'll be heading close to where the gold men came from, so we'll want to be careful. And there's always the danger that the gold men will attack Whitter as well. In that case, we may be on our way to New Center and maybe Hawkshorn with our refugees. Any questions, comments, suggestions?}
ROCK: Rock nods to Peter and prepares for the journey.
MARCO (GM): Am I to late to suggest monitoring which direction the minds of the golden-robot-men set out so that we get an idea of their route?
GM: Marco was never able to pick them up with his Mind Scan.
During the search of the town, the group also salvages whatever town records they can find.
In addition to people, the team was also able to salvage five horses and a couple of carts.
The night passes without incident. The following morning, the team sets out for Whitter with the refugees from Fort Attson. The horses and carts are used to good effect to carry some of the younger refugees as well as belongings that they were able to salvage.
The road between Fort Attson and Whitter is a well-traveled one and so the going is good. The sky is, as always, overcast, but is darker than usual. About midday, a light rain begins to fall. It continues to rain off and on for the next couple of hours. Cal reaches the top of a small hill sometime in mid-afternoon and can see the walled village of Whiiter ahead. Unlike Fort Attson, the wall around Whitter is a wooden palisade. Rosin tells the group that the entrance is on the southeast side (the team is approaching from the west). Surrounding the village are farmlands. A couple dozen people can be seen working the fields by hand and with crude farming equipment pulled by oxen.
GM: Is the group going to approach openly or scout things out first. From here, it looks like everything is normal. |