Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have returned to Riverbend and now have a new mission across the river.
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Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.
Sonny Helianthus: a nearly 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. Just went out of his comfort zone to rescue Lathar from becoming a human sacrifice to "The Beast."
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, 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.
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. Former jousting champion of Fair-Town.
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Sonny and Squiggles departed Ascension Hall. Justinian with the Restorationists had given them a immediate quest: to cross the river and engage with the Hissers who had camped out along the river bank.
The duo returned to Lathar's mom's home, to get the others up to speed. No one thought it would be an ambush, in fact they realized there was no reason they couldn't get across the river, engage the Hissers, and make it back before dusk.
Getting across the river at this stage would require a boat, and Lathar barely managed to acquire one (perhaps the boaters knew his secret flaws).
Clover Haycock negotiated a deal with Lathar to pilot them across the river in his boat.
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Clover Haycock, Riverbend Boat Pilot |
They arrived on the other shore to... no one. Sonny did find some recently used pie tins, and the crushed plants that would note a recent encampment.
Wandering along the riverbank netted no response from the interior, and a setting sun made the group cross back into Riverbend. Before they departed, Sonny left a note for the Hissers, hoping they could read.
"Dear Hissers,
Sorry we missed you. Hope to catch you tomorrow. Bring more pie. I like rhubarb..."
Clover was not happy with the possibility of transporting them again. Lathar tried to smooth him over, but Clover threw a counter proposal. "I can rearrange my schedule for you guys for more domars, I'm a very busy man, but I'd be a less busy man if you can take care of my sister..."
Lathar stroked his chin.
Clover: Thunnelda just sits around the house, it ain't right.
Lathar: I'll take her out on a date.... if things go well, she can tag along on the adventure.
Once they returned to Riverbend, the Explorers disembarked, Lathar followed Clover back to the Haycock homestead.
Clover: Ever since they kicked her out of the militia, she picked too many fights in all the inns, she's been moping in her room.. It ain't natural.
Clover introduced Lathar to his wife, Zelveta and they walked to Thunnelda's room.
Behind a normal-looking door was a sight, from the inside of the doorframe all around the room, were various door hinges hammered to the walls.
Thunnelda sat on her bed, playing with some indistinguishable piece of metal. Her sad eyes augmented by the personalized deep facial tattoos running from her forehead down to her jawline.
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Thunnelda Haycock, a very hinged woman |
Lathar stepped forward, handing her one of the pie tins from the Hisser encampment, "This is for you."
Thunnelda's eyes perked up, her distant look recollecting as she reached out to the pin tin, then rolling over to grab the head of a hammer, and nail the tin onto the a prominent spot on the walls.
Thunnelda was eager to accompany Lathar on a walk. They strolled the main road, climbing to the hills to watch the early seasonal fireflies. Thunnelda was beaming, all smiles, even more so when Lathar took her by the hand. Thunnelda's nervousness turned into a rapid-fire series of personal questions, and the barbarian chose to humor her.
Lathar's intention to bring her even near a tavern was met with immediate hostilities. A few stragglers loitering outside ran into the building to alert the others, and many could be heard pushing their chairs back and grabbing weapons.
Lathar: What did you do?
Thunnelda: Um... at one point I did go into a fit of rage, and smashed every piece of barware they had, because... you wouldn't believe this, they ran out of the nuggies. This might not be a great bar for us.
Lathar took charge, tossing a pile of domars onto the bar: I need two jugs of ale, and two orders of nuggies.
Bartender, resigned: Does she want the mushroom paste or glow sauce?
Thunnelda, excited, hiding behind Lathar: GlowsauceGlowsauceGlowsauce.
Once they obtained their snacks and refreshments, they climbed the hill to view the stars.
Thunnelda soon realized her initial fits of rage were unfounded, apparently she didn't like the nuggies. but not to embarrass herself, she'd dip her nuggie into the sauce, take a bite, and chuck the remainder of the piece into the woods.
They sat under the stars, talking about goals, family, and dreams, when Lathar finally blurted out, "How about you come with us tomorrow."
It was a fairly dark sky that night, but Lathar was certain that Thunnelda was over the moon.
The next morning, the Explorers arrived back at the riverbank. Clover was there, his sister Thunnelda, with a hide satchel over her shoulder and a small wheelbarrow of hinges at her feet.
Thunnelda: They all have names....
Peter the Weasel played a few notes of his mandolin.
The rest of the Explorers were a bit shocked but Lathar assured him it was a short-term ploy. The Explorers, plus Clover and Thunnelda loaded onto the boat and crossed
This time, the Hissers were gathered at the spot across the river. Sonny directed most of the diplomatic matters and the four snake-man allowed them to disembark, Clover and Thunnelda staying on the boat.
The Hissers connected telepathically with the group, introducing themselves as
Ssezzithis,Vrok , Zuriss, and Hraliss. They noted Sonny and Pete were remembered by their people for their actions in the Notex village.
They simply wanted to engage with the human-dominated villages to announce the lands across the river from Riverbend were now official under the protection of the Overlord of Bon-Parr, Urisinus I. Travel within the new borders was still permitted, although heavily regulated.
The group learned that Bon-Parr was a mutant animal-dominated regime, which was now working around the Wildlands and recruiting other animal settlements. Jainus and Koto Dam were still out of their range, but the footpath from Jainus to Fair-Town was considered under the protection Ursinus.
Despite the foreboding talk, the Hissers were hoping for success with this new alliance, and some opportunity for trade. "The Overlord has no desire to cross the big river. If the others respect these demands, we may respect theirs.
They also learned that agents of Bon-Parr had continued to explore Rho Facility next to Notex.
"Of course all animals are welcome in Bon-Parr and amongst the Ranks of the Fit, as the Overlord will appreciate your gifts much more than the humans.... " and with that, the Hissers departed.
GM Notes: "Nuggies" are typically crafted from mutated creatures like plump squiggles, oversized insect larvae, or rat-birds. These strange animals are raised or hunted for their edible flesh, and their taste varies from mildly sour to an oddly sweet and savory blend. The flesh is chopped or ground up to a paste that somewhat resembles old-world meat, then shaped into nugget-like forms.
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