Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, and backtracking, the group made a multi-day stop at K.I.A. Academy. With some important info obtained by questionable means, they must leave... quickly.
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Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend. He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters. Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust. Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock. Just received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.
Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers. Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"
Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows.
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places, and finding it often. He has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair. Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge
Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest.
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Sonny Helianthus, 10-foot tall mutant sunflower, was always conspicuous by height, but this time he looked worried and anxious as he left the lobby and back to Level 0. It took far longer to locate the rest of the Explorers, but each one was unquestionably on board as he told them each, "We need to leave."
Despite a sense of paranoia, and plenty of looking over their shoulders, they emerged out of KIA without incident, and turned downriver on The Overpass. Sonny still wouldn't divulged his reason for the group leaving.
"The bridge... where we helped rescue the Kirothians... If that's safe, I'll tell you everything.
From the view of the long empty Overpass running parallel with the Big River, they got a better view of the great expanse inland beyond KIA. The woodlands and rolling grasslands they had explore, the periphery of KIA's influence, the ruins of the Toard Jakey, the first (and bad) encounter with the Kirothians. Much of it was ruined, layered with new roads, trenchworks, and wire fences. Hundreds of soldiers, the conscripted of the sub-levels and certainly regular above level folk, patrolled and trained in it's stead. Like something had happened already.
Like they were preparing for something to happen again.
Once they arrived at the bridge, the last shred of KIAs technology and influence, they rested. Sonny provided the documents from Dr Kallex: The test results of the syringe that was used on Squiggles, and full file the KIA had on Harkonn Bracken, Lathar's father.
Lathar paged through the report, dropping to the ground, leaning up against the concrete wall of the bridge.
"He didn't even care about me.... He didn't want to come back... Why are we even going?"
The rest of the Explorers gave him space. None of them had the emotional capacity to support their friend.
After awhile, the wave of grief and sadness ebbing, Lathar stood up and brushed himself off.
"He sent us a letter.... the raccoon handed it to my mother... That's what matters now. Not what some file says. KIA probably used him in Parr like they're using the people in the sub-levels as cannon fodder. Let's go find him..."
The road below the last real KIA bridge varied wildly, from broken up asphalt to narrow single file trails through the woods. No one was down this way, and the scouts were on their constant alert.
It was Pete who caught a glimpse of them first, pulling up his binoculars to get a closer look:
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