(Gamma World) Not a Test #86 - Down Time

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.  

Thunnelda Haycock:  A peculiar local woman, who has a penchant for wandering the surrounding territories for particular oddities, and possibly could be winning the heart of Lathar.

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The Explorers sat on the opposite bank of the Big River.  The Hisser delegation had just departed, now part of the greater mutant animal realm of BonParr.  The folks of Riverbend were still welcome to traverse the forests across from their town, but there could be repercussions. 

Sonny motioned over to their boatswain, Clover, to take them back across to Riverbend. 

Thirty days later...

Sonny relaying the message of the Hissers to the townsfolk non-plussed, no fear, no outrage.  Only Squiggles pushed the town leaders buttons, believing BonParr would send their own undesirables across the river.  After a month of rest and warmer temperatures, the sunflower was finally green and healthy, and his giant nine-foot stature and impressive wingspan demanded a level of respect that he did not have in his early days.  

Pete rested back at his riverside lair, occasionally putting in his two cents back in town with the continued construction of the palisade.  With only a skeleton crew working on the palisade, the barrier only potected

Squiggles and his family had been coerced by Pete to continue to dig tunnels under the town, an escape path for Pete.  

Lathar spent considerable time with Thunnelda.   He knew of her previous emotional swings, and could overhear whispers of her other acts while he walked down the streets, but when she was with him, Thunnelda seemed juvenile, but stable... and happy.    Thunnelda wasn't always attached to Lathar by the hip, wandering off for a "hinge-quest" out in the surrounding wilderness.  

Two weeks later...

The desire to drill within the militia dropped considerably, and the drunkenness had risen.  Most militia were now showing a lack of discipline, many shirking responsibilities on the job to drink. It was no surprise of the response time to an attack in the far inland portion of the town, the sparse neighborhood controlled by black marketer Boson Higby.  Only six perished, as a pod of Sel (or LandSharks) crested the soil and snagged the unwitting.

There was some concern that the Squiggles family and their digging might have alerted the landsharks, but Squiggles himself noted that the worm family would probably be the first target of the beasts, if they needed a tasty snack.

Squiggles agreed to have his family bring stone down into the tunnels for drainage, and odd one-way doors.  All this offspring knew their "Manchi" would leave again, but most enjoyed spending time with him, even if they were digging tunnels and a moat.  

Sonny decided an attempt to raise morale in town with a spring celebration, and an odd concept known as the "pot-luck."  It was amazingly successful.

Pete oversaw the final stages of the of the guard tower.  The platform was quite rickety and the roof leaky,  made worse with the makeshift "Spearthrower" that was intended for No-Name, now protecting the whole town.  Pete cluttered the platform even more by installing one of the warning gongs on there.

The Spearthrower

Pete also influenced Sonny and Lathar to point out some motivated and charismatic militia to get promoted and undercut the authority of Captain Loman Streight.  

Lathar took advantage of his free time to train the militia on using the Spearthrower, focusing on his skills in Military Leadership for training, and convincing them to construct more spears, so they had some at the ready.  

Lathar and Sonny picked  Thorn, a medic and practical tactician, Mira Coal, an archer from Fair-Town, and Squiggles' worm child, Poppy to reorganize parts of the militia.

Mira Coal.

Meanwhile, travelers came into Riverbend. merchants plying their wares, outsiders looking for supplies, and even a small group of mutant badgers from BonParr who crossed the river.  While many, especially Pete, were suspicious, they creatures were on their best behavior, buying some items with legitimate domars, drinking in the taverns, and telling tales about how wonderful BonParr was, even for humans who knew their role.  

Pete's paranoia quickly went away around the same time and the badgers' departure.  His merchant friend, Hervetta, had arrived in town, and she had Terleen feathers for him.  It was a few, but enough for Pete to assemble a cape, with Lathar's fault.  

Hervetta

The consensus of the Explorers was Riverbend was finally somewhat secure... best yet, no townsfolk were asking any of them to do anything extraordinary, Now a trip to Fair-Town was in order.  Intelligence from KIA wasn't getting upriver to Riverbend, it was time to re-visit the Bug-Mart, plus the jousts and other tournaments were starting up soon.  

As Pete was trying to convince Lathar to joust yet again, for the sake of his own sanity, Thunnelda returned from another of her "Hinge-Quest"   The other Explorer did not verbally make note that Lathar showed a twinge of ... relief upon her arrival.  

Thunnelda ran up to the group, "Lathar... my beloved..."

Lathar, "Yes, my Love..."

Thunnelda:  I think I found something.  What does it mean if there is a door with no hinges....?

GM Notes:  With the way healing works in Gamma World, and my desire to keep the White Hand as scarce resource in this area, it was well overdue to handwave weeks of gameplay to get the crew up to their appropriate power levels.  Including a reference to merchants moving, individual mobility, and even an attack that they could do nothing to stop. 

Next:  #87 - A Door Without Hinges