Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, had decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, blue surges of strange auras, and beings definitely not from around Riverbend, they've finally arrived at an odd softrock (concreate) planform with the water of the the Black Reeds... Half the party was trapped in the facility's Ancient tech filtration plant, but was rescued by Sonny sabotaging it... only to discover that this site was the twelve-year old project of one Harkonn Bracken... and a number of allies.
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Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and stealth take center stage in their mission, although he is apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"
Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows.
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places, 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. Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge. Also pregnant for the third time, heavily wounded by the underwater apparatus.
Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest. And we have learned the Poppy... can't swim.
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After the otters got the back-up pumps running on KIA Filtration Facility #12, Harkonn invited everyone back to the main base of operations... beyond the reeds, beyond the lake Sonny had spied, and into the edge of the woods which gave the Wildlands their name. Embarking on a number of low, man-powered boats and rafts, they crossed the lake and ventured deep into woods and finally reached the encampment.
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They ventured over to one of the other containers, Harkonn's crew going over the technical specifications of the filtration system and it's needed repairs.
Grindle the Turtle finally showed up to the meeting, "So... the kid and his friends are staying? Do I get to eat the flower... looks tasty. "
Lathar: "So you guys have just been living out here all this time."
Harkonn: "We have been monitoring this water facility since we built it. It's a modern piece of Ancients tech that is helping the world. Some of the group scavenges and explores the edge of the Wildlands... No one here has any family, so the mission takes precedence."
Lathar flinched at the words, "No one here has any family."
Walking back to Lathar's friends... Harkonn finally asks, "So... you got everything figured out."
Lathar: "Hardly..."
Lathar tried to figure out anything about his father. Harkonn admitted he wasn't a good man. Courier work, travelling around, guarding the occasional caravan, robbing the occasional caravan, killing a man in a bar once, or twice, or three times, working off rival gangs in Fair-Town.
"Trust me, I didn't bring you down here to take over the family trade. Don't worry about that. You do whatever you want. Alright? I'm perfectly content down here. Call it a moment of weakness when I wrote the letter. We encountered a raccoon courier on a hovercycle. I said what the hell! At this point I need to organize a long-range expedition to find pack animals and travel to find some pipe... maybe into the glow... We don't need you. "
Lathar finally put his head down on his cot,
"This is it? This is what I came here for? I dragged my friends down here, nearly got them killed, for this? I've spent more time with my Explorers than I have my old man..."
Late that night, Sonny is holding a power cell lantern with one hand, holding a copy of Home Food Preservation and Pressure Canning Guide, 2036 Smart Agriculture Edition he had found in the building... A hooded figure came around the corner and entered their building, showing enough skin to put their finger up to his lip before entering.
Lathar woke up with a shove, "C'mon boy, grab your gear.... We're going out this morning...."
"What do I need, Dad?"
"More than what you had when you dove off the facility to greet me..."
Despite his conversations with father, and the thoughts that clouded his mind as he fell aslepp, Lathar sat up, and grabbed his sword, his shield, and a pistol. Harkonn led him further away from the Old Marks, technically down river, until they came upon a rowboat, with a device attached to the back of it.
"Let's not try to stab the fish... you ever use a true rod and reel?"
Harkonn steered from the back, the silent device pushing the boat further. He navigated through the reeds effortlessly. There is a spot, in the moonlight that even Lathar could realize the water was crystal-clear... and heading back toward the river. As they ventured further into the river, it was a completely different body of water, with more vibrant plant life, even for fall.
"Nightcrawlers or beetles?"
"Beetles.... My friend Squiggles and his kids are worms."
"So THAT's what they are!"
Lathar: "Why did you leave... and why did you need me here now."
Harkonn: "Lathar... I don't need you here."
There was a long silence.
Harkonn: "There was a chance to send a letter. I have my mission, but I do miss you guys from time to time."
Lathar: "So we share this moment, and we leave? You've got everything under control?"
Harkonn: "Yeah, we're handling everything. Everybody's got an agenda, they're just smart enough not to go into the Wildlands. We know how to handle it. I don't you venturing out there, getting yourself killed. I want you to settle down, live well, prosper, be happy...
And that was when Lathar caught a magnificent Largemouth Bass.
After that moment, they fished some more, then Harkonn quickly packed up and turned the motor on, turning back to Old Marks.
Lathar was confused.
Harkonn: "River traffic. A much bigger boat. I didn't feel like meeting them... let's get back and work on a raft that will get you back upriver with your furry friends."
Lathar stayed quiet and melancholy, not regaling his father with his adventures, not telling him about his wife, not telling him about he was soon to be a grandfather.
Then return to camp with the bass, and a number of smaller fish. They're surprised to find a full squad of armed otters in the camp, well-armed with Ranks of the Fit armbands.
Next: #138 - Not Fond of the Beavers
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