Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, are spending the winter scouting around KIA Academy. They have suffered a disastrous result trying to rescue some blue-skinned Kirothians from a "wizard" and his "demon" allies.
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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. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. Very interested in a "Children's Alchemical Laser" he recently acquired.
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. No Name has recently been fitted for a artillery device of the Ancients that chucks spears further than any human. Looking for trouble in all the right places. Former jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray. He's recently been struck by a weapon by a strange race of people and transformed into... something else... multiple times.
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Lathar, Squiggles, and Pete quickly hurried away from the hills, back into woods, and by all accounts, barely made it back to the Paragoulde. Word of their failure was disheartening to everyone, both from the Kirothian village, and Elona's group that they had befriended earlier. This tragedy seemed to create some fractures in the Lathar's physical relationship with the Kirothian Chief Scout, Elona.
It was only a few hours later that Sonny returned to the village under shock and fanfare, especially as he was escorted by eight surviving Kirothians... and a new, but oddly familiar mutant plant.
Given some much need warmth, Sonny was happy to convey his tale: (first person)
Sonny was standing alone, the death blossom killing most around him. On the other side of the pit, unaffected Kirothians were actively struggling with their binds. Sonny ran over to the dozen or so survivors, and this time, his dagger worked true. The demon preoccupied. He continued to free as many surviving Kirothians as he could, including one who was bound near the blast radius of the Alchemical Laser. The lush greenery was a peculiar triangular leaf, and that Kirothian turned into a similar mutant plant.
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| "Herb" |
There was a somber celebration, which culminated with the Kirothian's Chief Scout, Elona, breaking off all relations with Lathar. Reasons were sketchy out of that conversation, but he Explorers agreed to escort the wandering Kirothians to their final destination: Fair-Town. Herb asks to join the group travelling to Fair-Town.
After two more days, the De Facto Explorers left town and walked alongside the wandering Kirothians.
They only encountered one group in their two day travels was an odd group of brigands that attempted to ambush the group. Largely human, with a number of larger female mutants with tusks in their mouth and brutish features, they were armed with a handful of muskets, but mostly swords and bows.
One shot from Pete's blaster easily made the group cower. Parlay was effective to send them on their way, but further intel was hard to come by. Even Pete being intrusive with his telepathy only brought pleas of hunger and larger warlords and brigands pushing them out of their area. They had nothing to trade and no services to offer, offsetting the fact that the Explorers truly didn't have enough food for their own people, much less give/trade some away.
The encounter with the brigands forced to group to reconsider their own food supplies. Squiggles journey outside the group for hunting, but couldn't find anything to supplement the meager scraps they had left.
The group finally arrives to the open gates of Fair-Town. The addition of two dozen Kirothians into the desperate labor pool was welcomed, allowing them to purchase their own food. The Kirothians gleefully found jobs and basic shelter with heat, their exhaustion tempering their appreciation for the party.
Fewer establishments are open in the winter, but the group finds their own lodgings, ultimately taking Herb to the Wrong Celery. The plant-bar was extra warm, but the non-animal patrons appreciated it.
Lathar was not taking his break-up with Elona well, drinking heavily, and eventually wandering off. The party ultimately decided to look for him. It was easy as a distinct bellowing of "ELONNNNNAAAAA!" echoed through the night.
They found Lathar in the jousting area, knocking over barrels, pushing down fencing... just as the town guard arrived to investigate.
"I went bluer.... it couldn't be truer!!!!"
The guards released him in the custody of his friends and they returned to the inn.
Late that night, Sonny was seated by the hearth, enjoying his soil, when he noticed a still drunk Lathar doing a poor job tip-toeing down the steps and wandered out the front door.
Sonny: Hey buddy, where you going?
Lathar: I'll be back, there's only one thing I need to do.... and with that he left.
Sonny quickly uprooted and follow Lathar. They wandered out to the area where the travelling artistans set up shop during the festivals.
"ELOOOOOONAAAAA!!! Show yourself!"A large door on one of the building was pushed aside and Elona emerged, quite perturbed.
"Lathar.... what do you want?"
"Elona, you have dishonored me.... I challenge you.... to a duel!"
Sonny puts his fronds into this bloom in disbelief. It was even worse a few moments later...
"I accept.... right now... outside the gates...."
Lathar spotted Sonny in the shadows and asked him to be his witness. Sonny desperately tried to placate the barbarian., but the barbarian had his delusions.
"It's all about honor... and anyway, she wants to duel me right back. What did I do wrong."
"I mean, you came out here in the middle of the night, woke her up, and wanted to duel her... Let me try to speak with her."
Elona agreed not to fight Lathar, but demanded a substitution. "I demand satisfaction. "
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Elona, Chief Kirothian Scout
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It took considerable conversation with the Kirothian to convince her not to murder everyone, but she finally agrees to go back to sleep and chalk the encounter up to further proof why she dumped him.
Sonny, relieved that no organized death was planned, returned to Lathar with the good news... to discover him missing, and the obvious tracks of a struggle in the snow.
Sonny followed the snowy tracks through all the neighborhoods of Fair-Town, finally reaching an encampment on the far side of town. The people in the camp seemed indifferent, sometimes friendly towards the sunflower. Many of them seemed mentally deficient, even for a human, and they were preparing for a Pathfinder Run through the woods. When asked what the Pathfinder Run was, everyone questioned simply answered....
"We have found the totem, and we will hunt the beast..."
The roar of an internal combustion engine could be heard. Emerging out of the woods was some sort of vehicle. There was a pair of skis attached to its front. There was space for two riders, elevated off the ground, and it was moved by a pair of oversized tracks. As the vehicle roared passed, Soony could see a naked Lathar strapped to the front of this device. The other campers cheered it on...
Before the vehicle disappeared, Sonny made a silent prayer to whatever useless deities were listening, and using his teleportation, he landed on the back of the vehicle, Destination: Unknown.
Next: #72 - The Beast
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