(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #41 - Restorationists and Rumors

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have finally returned to their hometown of Riverbend for some much needed rest, artifact identification, and administration

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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 sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often.  Previously "gave birth" to a litter of sentient earthworm babies, but recently 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.  Recent jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray.

RHA-9: A lab assistant piece of "Living Metal" that seems to have befriended the group... for now!

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A mile or so outside of Riverbend, the conversation turned heated as the topic of money came up.  Everyone had plenty of Domars, and there were many disagreements of what to do with the gold domars and gold bars, much less the food replicator.  It was agreed that the gold bars needed to either be liquidated or stashed.  A stop at Bosan Higby's place, the closest thing to a moneychanger and pawn shop, was eventually needed.   Sonny was quite insistent that the Restorationists keep "Right of First Refusal" since they were trusted and sent them on the mission in the first place.  The rest begrudgingly agreed.

First mission in town was to find the White Hand for healing, but none of them had been seen in town for the past three days.  

The second led them to the doors of a the Ascension Hall.  Requesting Justinian only took a short wait until they were led back to the main meeting room.  During the walk, Sonny realized that all the Ancients' technology that they displayed on walls leading to the room were mere trinkets and minor gadgets compared to all the technology that Rho Facility had. 

Justinian greeted the group and questioned Squiggles extreme makeover.

Justinian

"The worm's lifestyle change notwithstanding, are we on better terms with hissers?"

"They're open to better relations, although their quite busy reclaiming what's left of their village," Sonny replied.

"Good, we'll send a formal emissary up there in another month."

"I can write up a formal report in a day or so. The facility is no longer attacking the village, but it's not completely secure."

Justinian's eyebrow raised, "Facility? I expected a hardened village at best!"

Sonny continued, "No, lot's of Ancients construction.  We brought back a good deal of it, plus our new friend RHA-9."

And with that, the robot rolled up, "How can I assist?"

RHA-9

Justinian was quite impressed, and showed great interest in the food replicator and some of the weapons 

While none of the De Facto Explorers were true members of the Restorationists, Sonny and Lathar had spent the last few years performing "activities" for them that a few professional courtesies were extended.  Sonny mysterious pistol from Rho Facility would be identified for free (1 day), while they provided an exorbitant but still affordable price to repair the structural damage to RHA-9, but completely avoid the power unit. 

The party agreed to return the next day to learn about the pistol, so they departed.  Leaving the building, they noticed a few new artifacts on display:  Some storage bags and footwear that all seemed to compliment Squiggle's new look, but a strange staff with a mushroom tap was against an interior wall in the complex.  Questions to the other Restorationists netted a basic response:  It must have shown up from a recent mission in the the outskirts of the Nightmare Monster Forest.

The Explorers ventured over to Yulius Medley's farm, to check on Squiggles offspring (see episode #23). The harvest was just beginning, and activity was everywhere, save the shed Squiggles called home.  There was no sign of any of the hundreds of offspring he had spawned! 

Squiggles scanned the mud.  There were a number a smaller, but deep holes, but they were surrounded by a multitude of scratch marks from a bird's foot, possibly a giant raven or crow.  Dejected, the worm peered into a nearby privy.  There, he found a small worm peaking it's head around a piece of wood paneling around the base of the privy.  

"Shaky"

"Manchi?.... is that you?"

"Junior!" 

"Simon?"

"No, no, no... They ate Simon.  Before the others left, they called me Shaky.  Is it safe to go outside?"

"Yes, come out and I'll take you for your first drink"

The small worm donned a small knit cap and ventured outside.  Sensing it safe, it called out to the world, "Siblings arise!  Our Manchi has returned after a long absence!"

Thirteen other worm heads popped up.  Out of hundreds of eggs. a baker's dozen and stayed on the farm.  It was time for celebration.

They all ventured to Ye New Leaping Happy Eagle for food and libations, while Squiggles regaled the townsfolk and his children of the Explorer's exploits.  

Shaky did explain that a number of its sibling burrowed down and simply did not return.  It was far easier to venture out into the world, than survive the large black bird-men that gobbled them all up.   

Lathar left to return No Name to his mother's home, as well as to check on Chambray the peacock.  The rest wandered the makeshift market of traveling merchants.  

While Squiggles corralled his younglings, Pete looked for more piranha-bird feathers, but outside of two giant feathers, more were mundane.  

He did spy some odd tripod tech, with two horizontal tires, with a spear positioned between them.  He managed to haggle down to 800 domars.  

"This will be great if we mount it on No-Name!"

He also had managed to discover a med-kit from a pile of miscellaneous Ancients tech.  It looked intact, but his negotiations with "Barnie" Barnswaggle netted no discount for the 3,000 domar cost.  Sonny and Pete agreed to gather the money over the next day and heal the group faster.

"Barnie" Barnswaggle

Settling down for the night, a few rumors had caught their ears:

1. In the village of Ronton, the last river port upriver before the Catacombs, had recently been attacked numerous times by "Bears of Unusual Size" near the Rune Mine.
2. The fall of the Iron Society in Jainus was complete, and the glow coming through the Koto Dam has sickened many, including many refugees fleeing.  The Brotherhood of Thought is is some form of control.
3. Jainus refugees also report heavily armored knights riding heavily armored steeds.  They have been rumored to slaughter most. 
4. KIA Academy has placed a 5,000 domar bounty on a half-man/half-horse made out of stone. 

GM Notes:  I'll be honest, with the way these sessions, encounters, and story arcs have transpired, experience points have been the last thing on everyone's minds.  With the epic conclusion of  A Dish That Serves No One, xp was paramount, and we discovered that all of the characters levelled TWICE!  Lots of scrambling levelling, especially remembering how the derived attributes (Health, Robot Recognition) were originally calculated before points were added to them.  We didn't handle the jump from 1st to 2nd level well, so with the corrections and boosts, the next adventure will have some badass action. 

Next: #42 -Boson Higby