Mission 1.2: Sinister Trail

"Okay, I set up on top and watch over as you go do, Mr. Zakk." She goes to the rim and finds a good place to lie down, the sniper rifle sweeping the area below.

Tariq Ali Khan

Nov 28, 2021 2:36 am

OOC:

Yeah, just got back in town from a week away.

"I'll go with you," Tariq says. "I'll keep a look out for more tracks."

Nov 28, 2021 12:57 pm

OOC:

Alright. I'll assume you three will stick together whlle Mastsuki remains at the top to observe.

Nikolai, Zakk and Tariq start their way down the shadowy path, taking it easy along the edges of the Face. Zakk looks on the ground for tracks. He is able to spot the subtle foot prints of people taking the same path. There are also signs of the black mold/reeds growing from the crevasses in the rocks.
Zakk continues to view his recording device. He now notices that when he faces the camera away from the pit and the pillars, the video clears a little, but when he focuses back in, the static returns. (Would he investigate this further?)

Matsuki watches from above. Everything seems very quiet. She looks at the black growth on the pillars. They seem to be undulating a little, as if moved by a breeze. (Would she investigate further?)

OOC:

Everyone, would you be wearing your vacsuits now, and would you be using the oxygen tank? There are other things that may affect you when you are wearing it, such as not being able to sense the presence of wind.

After while, the 3 who descended reached the stretch of stones that forms the wide smile of The Face. They now have a choice. They could move around the "mouth" by the left, which will make them be visible to Matsuki looking out from above, or they could go right, which will make not been visible, but possibly seeing another view of the "nose" and the half buried white structure.

Rolls

Luck roll - (1d6)

(4) = 4

Nov 29, 2021 6:43 pm

Upon reaching the "mouth", Tariq notices that the trail of the 1st team starts becoming messy, and that it looks like somebody have fallen over. There are also bits of shell casings amongst the pebbles.

Tariq will regard this scene as a fight having taken place. Which means something might have attacked them here...
(1 will damage to Tariq)

Rolls

Tariq Will Save(6) - (1d20)

(20) = 20

Will damage - (1d4)

(1) = 1

Tariq Ali Khan

Nov 30, 2021 3:16 am

OOC:

I'm not clear on whether vac suits are necessary here or not. Ditto oxygen canisters. Let's assume Tariq is holding the oxygen but not wearing the vac suit.

"Looks like some kind of... scuffle. Shell casings all over the place. What were they shooting at?" He looks toward the face for any sign of a living being. "Should we stay where Matsuki can see us?"

Matsuki Magumi

Qralloq

Nov 30, 2021 4:30 am

Remnant Inactive forever!

OOC:

Matsuki has her gear with her, but unless the air is much worse here, she'll breathe it straight.

She focuses her scope on the undulating grass, wondering what sort of plant can live in this place.

Zakk Wylde

Nov 30, 2021 4:36 pm

"Watch your footing. Lets move down in shifts in case the gunfight shifted the terrain... See if you see anything damaged or fluids..." Zakk offers up adjusting his gun at his hip taking small steps to move into an area to provide overwatch on the way down.

Nikolai Volkov

FlyingSucculent

Nov 30, 2021 10:34 pm

OOC:

Wolf wouldn't wear his vacsuit without explicit reason - so unless the air is very bad, he's not wearing it. Same for the oxygen.

Wolf follows the other two carefully, suspiciously eyeing the black mold whenever they pass it, while simultaneously trying to avoid turning his back to the structure in the middle of the crater. He pauses as they reach the stones, looking around for anything abnormal or indicative of what happened to the last group. When Tariq points out the shell casings, he leans down to pick up one for closer inspection.

"Lets not leave view. We can see other side later." He twirls the casing in his hand, then looks over at the structure. "Think we can throw something, bait foes out while there is a clear route of retreat?"

Dec 3, 2021 8:55 pm

The air currently is slightly irritable and smells odd. Breathing it gives one the feeling of coughing, but it's manageable to avoid doing so.

Tariq still can't see any living creatures, other than his companions and the black growth.

Matsuki watch the grass closely. She can now tell that the motion is too erratic to caused by the wind.

Nikolai watch the mold as he avoids it. As he pass them by, he notice that they seem to move to stretch out whenever someone goes near them. In fact, he sees them as grasping hands that blindly reach for the Spacers... (1 will damage. Wow, all damages so far are 1s.)

OOC:

Alright, what might be the marching order? As in, who is at the front, and who is at the back of the group? And shall I assume we will go by the visible route?

Rolls

Luck roll (air) - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Luck roll - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Matsuki will save (12) - (1d20)

(5) = 5

Nikolai will save (8) - (1d20)

(20) = 20

Nikolai Will damage - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Nikolai Volkov

FlyingSucculent

Dec 5, 2021 12:48 am

Nikolai shudders in disgust upon noticing the movement - whether it is just a trick of imagination or genuine reaction of the flora, it is unpleasant to perceive. Idly, the electrician thinks that it's a shame that none of his allies seem like they would have a flamethrower hidden away... At least his claws are good at cutting plants. And tendrils.

OOC:

I'm fine going first. And I also wanted to throw something (casing, or rock) at the structure in the middle, if no one is against it?

Last edited December 5, 2021 12:49 am

Tariq Ali Khan

Dec 7, 2021 9:24 pm

Tariq is tempted to take a sample of the mold, but he sees Nikolai preparing to throw something. "If there's a batsman on the other side, I'll eat my vacc suit."

OOC:

Go for it!

Dec 8, 2021 12:31 am

RoAries sent a note to RoAries

Nikolai picks up an empty shell and readies his aim to send the casing over the row of tall rocks towards the structure at the centre.

There were the plinks of metal as the bait bounce about. Dramatic silence followed what might have been the tossing of the dice of fate. And then...

There is a hideous groaning noise, and it comes from the direction of the structure, a little to the right. It barely could be understood, but it sounds like a woman choking. "Save... me... some... body!"

Looking around now, a very disturbing scene followed. The black growth from the pillars began to form balloons at the tip of each agitated stalk. The larger of these balloons then form wide hollow eyes and excited chattering mouths. These features seems to be white, but at the same time not real (like those Illusions where you can see dots when you don't look directly.)

"Hey hey hey there!"
"Ha ha ha!"
"The bitch is crying hah!"
The faces chatter over each other.

Rolls

Luck roll (Bait throw) - (1d6)

(4) = 4

Nikolai Will save (groan) - (1d20)

(13) = 13

Nikolai will save (faces) - (1d20)

(15) = 15

Tariq will save (groan) - (1d20)

(10) = 10

Tariq will save (faces) - (1d20)

(19) = 19

Zakk will save (groan) - (1d20)

(5) = 5

Zakk will save(faces) - (1d20)

(11) = 11

Matsuki will save (groan) - (1d20)

(19) = 19

Matsuri will save (faces) - (1d20)

(6) = 6

Dec 9, 2021 7:27 am

OOC:

Nikolai fail both, Tariq fail both, Matsuki failed voice,
Zakk failed faces.

Nikolai's sanity have shattered from the combo of noises and supernatural faces, which gave him Visiosubrideophobia. (I think this name is made up for a horror game, but looks relevant.)

Currently, the party knows that the groaning is coming from the right path a medium distance away, and the source still can't be seen, even by Matsuki. The faces are slowly being spawned in from above. They are right now medium distance above, and long distance from Matsuki. There are 3 now, and is hard to tell if they are looking at the noise source, or the party.

Rolls

Nikolai Will damages - (1d4+1d6)

(3) + (5) = 8

Tariq will damages - (1d4+1d6)

(3) + (1) = 4

Matsuki will damage - (1d4)

(4) = 4

Zakk will damage - (1d4)

(4) = 4

Nikolai Volkov

FlyingSucculent

Dec 10, 2021 9:23 pm

OOC:

This was a Crisis Event for me, correct? Do I do the Growth rolls?
Also, is my Will now 0 (or -1?) until we can rest?

Nikolai startles and instinctively backs away from the faces, before forcing himself to stop and stare at the disturbing - disgusting, - growth. He tries to push his own fear away, and instead focus on calculating whether he can reach any of the faces with his claws. If yes, he will try to do that, if not, he will charge towards the source of noise - in hopes that dealing with it will deal with the faces as well.

Last edited December 10, 2021 9:24 pm

Dec 11, 2021 6:56 am

OOC:

Yes, that phobia effect is a crisis event. Your attribute drops to 0. Yes, you get to do the growth rolls now.
The faces are currently above you guys and are not reachable by melee.

Btw, it's now a combat encounter, so everyone has to do an action in order to continue to next round. Its now the Party's turn.

I'm trying to find the rules on attacking and moving, but seems unable to. So I'll just give this assumption:
You can melee attack at close range for the round.
You can move up to Short range for the round. Medium is twice of short range, and Long range is either 3 or 4 rounds of movement. Distant range is 5+ rounds, and likely unreachable in combat.
You can shoot up to long range, unless the weapon have special rules.

Nikolai heads up to the right. As he turns around the corner, he finally sees the thing that was making noise. A Short distance away, a shambling woman faces Nikolai. She is wearing the familiar work clothes some of the members of the base were wearing. Her eyes and mouths were fully black, dripping with the mold.

"Who... is... there..." She croaked.

This awful sight caused Nikolai to stumble, hurting his ankle a bit. (1 Dexterity damage. Since your Will is 0, will saves are auto fail, so I make it as other effects.)

Dec 11, 2021 3:42 pm

OOC:

So, potential targets are the floating faces or this zombie-woman? Do the rest of us see the woman?

Dec 11, 2021 4:14 pm

OOC:

The rest of you don't see the woman yet. She is on the other side of the rocks. I'll give another option, you could climb up the rocks. I'll let this be either a Dex or Str save of your choice. Failure means falling and being hurt. From the top of the rocks, you can see the woman, and you will be nearer to where the faces are.

Matsuki is able to use her action to move into another position to see the zombie woman, or shoot the ballooning faces spawned above the party.

I should draw and post a map.

Matsuki Magumi

Qralloq

Dec 11, 2021 5:34 pm