(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #43 - Resting in Riverbend

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, are still in Riverbend.  

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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!  Currently getting repairs done by the Restorationists.

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Rest was the order of the day, as everyone with the White Hand was mysteriously out-of-town.  Rest wasn't bedrest, however, as Sonny and Lathar could tinker with some designs involving multiple shot flintlocks.  A few days of tinkering resulted in exploded barrels, but no injuries.   

Lathar was assisting on multiple projects, as Pete and Lathar's mom assembled a leather harness to secure the spear launcher atop of No-Name, and two carrying cases to hold five spears apiece.  

Another trip to the Restorationists was in order, to pick up RHA-9.  The Restorationists were able to make some repairs, and reinforced some the weaker spots, delaying the inevitable self-destruction that might occur.  

RHA-9

RHA-9 was rather pleased to reunite with his friends and test subjects, and Sonny finally turned in his report to the Restorationists.

Meanwhile, Squiggles was trying to make sure his 13 children were self-sufficient.  A few of of them working for Boson Higby's associates, proved to Squiggles that despite being only a few weeks old, they had matured sufficiently.

Squiggles spent most of his time, wandering around River Bend, trying to give direction to his offspring.  Lathar had other thoughts.  

Lathar, "My combat leadership can lead your children into battle."

Squiggles, "No,  that sounds horrible, I just want them to support themselves."

Some of the worms went back to Boson Higby to work odd jobs.  One worked at the Keg, cleaning tables and washing cups.  Two had already wandered off to the edge of town, a few seemed like bums, but so long as they had dirt to burrow through, they'd never go hungry.  None ever went back to Farmer Yulius' farm.

When Lathar wasn't trying to help Sonny with his latest "improvement",  he was bitching to Pete over the two kegs of mead in Lathar's mom's house   They had gotten them from the Wrong Celery in Fair Town and we're trying to turn a profit, but the RHA Facility job got in the way.  They would argue for hours over their next move, even trying to dump the sales part onto one of Squiggles worm children.  

The Keg didn't service that type of clientele, The Juicy Flea, a haven for mutant dogs and cats, didn't have the business, and the people who ran Moe's Inn were just weird.  They resigned themselves to try to sell it the fanciest place in town, The Petal Throne, but they couldn't agree on a sales pitch or an acceptable offer.

And that's why Lathar's Mom still has two extra end tables in her house.

GM Notes:  The RHO Facility adventure took twice as long to complete, so it's no surprise that in-town bookkeeping and role-playing is taking twice as long, too.  

We have finally named the 13 surviving worm offspring that Squiggles was able to find.  It took awhile, but I basically doubled the in-depth NPCs in River Bend.

Next: #44 - A Decent Looking Weasel