Chapter 1: Just Another Day in the Wasteland

It is morning. The first of the Wasteland's two suns has risen, and for a few hours being outside will be bearable. The wind seems to be picking up, sandstorms are likely. Many people may die today. But none of that is anything new.

Just east of the center of this desert is a facility designed to extract and process oil from beneath the harsh sands. From the outside, an unfamiliar observer could be mistaken for abandoned. But just beneath the facade is a small city, providing the whole Wasteland with the fuel its inhabitants need to survive.

In a strangely nice(at least compared to the rest of the city) "apartment," James Alexander, a skilled liar who the owner only keeps around for his ability to "recruit" people, is disturbed from sleep by a pounding on his door. The voice that follows is all too familiar to him. "Face, wake up. Gus found something over at Shatterpoint, Rodney wants you to get some people and go check it out."

Gauthak Steelskin is a familiar sight to the residents of the refinery, usually involving something getting broken. He works as an enforcer for the warlord that runs the place, a valuable asset with the weird powers he's rumored to possess. An imposing obsidian monolith of a man, he inspires fear and respect from anyone smart enough not to start something.


Meanwhile, one of the city's few forms of entertainment, the fight club, has run through the night and leaked over into morning. The current bout is between the current champion, a stout human girl by the name of Winona Bladeleaf. Challenging her is Grevvn Quarsk, a relative newcomer to the pits, but he's already proven himself one of the strongest competitors they have. Their strong dislike of each other is well-known, and the crowd seems to be evenly divided in their support. Finneas the Meek has been awake for some time, fixing up his cobbled-together radio in one of the refinery's workshops using some parts he's obtained from the various junk shops that sell whatever gets scavenged that isn't immediately useful. Most of the parts are replacements or upgrades, but one doesn't have any obvious purpose. It is a hollow glass disc held together by a copper ring running along the outside. The inside of the disc is filled halfway with what looks like sparkling green sand.

Louvan Fox, unlike most, is presently up on the surface, making repairs to one of the city's trucks, an oversized flatbed with a large grappling hook loaded into a cannon mounted on the back. It wasn't too damaged, just some burn marks and a couple damaged wheels from a recent skirmish with some of Krunch's goblins, but that stuff adds up, might as well fix it up now.

In the northeast of the wasteland, there are mountains. These mountains are dangerous and nearly impossible to traverse without having lived there, but below one of these peaks sits what may be the wasteland's only supply of drinkable water. The only access to this source is a single cave system, at the entrance to which lies a village. The village is able to survive on what they can farm in the milder mountain climate, but most of their resources come from trading their water supply with the desert's roaming caravans.

One of this tribe's traders is a young woman named Ilori Stormwind, a strong warrior and one of their more outspoken advocates against embracing the technology that is widespread in the area. She is accompanied by Venia, a muscular older woman with skin like polished granite, wearing a cloak made of the feathers of some enormous bird and an axe the size of a man strapped to her back. In addition to the huge water tank they're dragging along, they also are giving a lift to a traveling entertainer calling himself Dalaran, who stopped in their village a couple days ago and has decided that he must move on, he'll probably pick up a ride with the first group they trade with. Something seems off about him, but besides wearing clothes over a set of plate armor, no one can quite say what that is.

Grevvn
Winona shifts into a blocking stance smirking right back. You seem to think you can beat me.

---

Finneas the Meek
Finneas doesn't discover anything besides that it's in fairly good condition despite presumably being found out in the desert somewhere.

---

James Alexander
Almost immediately after James leaves his "apartment," Gauthak is behind him, even though he never broke line of sight with him. You don't get days off. And Krunch's guys have been getting kinda antsy, go pick up some muscle for when the violence goes down. We all know you can't fight." And with that, he's gone just as he arrived.

---

Louvan Fox
Not long after the elf reenters the compound, he runs into a familiar face. James is clearly hungover and more than a little annoyed, but he's coming up here, so there's probably a good reason.

---

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
A few miles out, the wind picks up. The oversized lizards pulling the cart come to a stop. Venia grips the handle of her axe. Do you hear that?

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
About a mile to the south, you both can hear the roar of diesel engines, the visibly huge clouds of dust being kicked up into the sky, clear signs of goblin machinery. And they are headed right for you.

In the opposite direction, the ground is torn up in a series of intersecting mounds running across the dry earth.

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
You both recognize the tracks as being made by one of the varieties of sand worms native to these parts. But whether they're the harmless kind, or the kind that could take down this cart and you with it. There is a chance they have moved on from this area, but that might leave the ground unstable.

"We can't avoid them both." Venia turns to face Ilori. "So which will it be, child? The worms or the goblins?"

---

Finneas the Meek
Like most days out in this desert, almost all the landscape is just sand as far as the eye can see. But something is different today. In the distance to the northeast you can see some enormous structure sticking out of the sand at an angle, almost like it crashed, or the desert has begun to swallow it up.

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
"Right then, bows out, no use getting too close if we can't help it." She lets go of her axe, directing the lizards towards the miniature dust storm to the south.

Despite the distance you saw before, it's not long at all before you can see a pack of small, green-skinned humanoids riding machines belching black smoke behind them, looking like they're cobbled together from scrap parts, most likely ready to break down at any moment. Approaching are four of these machines, each with one goblin driving and one strapped onto the back, one carrying a beat-up rifle that is far too big for it, the other three each wearing a leather satchel, the contents of which you can't see yet. All eight of them are clad in scrap metal armor decorated with tiny spikes, some banging on it as they chatter excitedly in a language none of you recognize.

The goblin with the rifle pops off a couple of shots, one of which goes wide. The other catches Venia is the shoulder, but it doesn't seem to phase her much, or at least she doesn't show it, despite the nasty-looking wound. "Now would be a very good time to start shooting, child!"

I don't have to think. Just do. I lunge forward in a savage blow with my wrist blade in front of me, my arm extended like a spear to stab at my opponent. This is followed with almost blinding speed by a knee to the midsection.

Grevvn
She takes the blade right in the arm, but doesn't seem to react as much as you'd expect. The knee she sees coming, extending a clawed gauntlet to catch it before you can make contact. She looks up at you, smiling like you'd just told a joke instead of stabbing her.

"My turn." You can see her eyes dilate, and she lashes out with a straight punch to your chest. It hurts way more than you'd expect for her size.

One of the vehicles charges at your cart, taking a hard left when it gets close so that it's now running parallel to you. The goblin on the back pulls a palm-sized metal sphere with a rope attached out of its bag and swings it over its head, aiming for the horn Dalaran is holding. But just as he releases the ball, the vehicle hits a bump, as he lobs it over the target's head. It impacts the sand and bursts into a ball of dark red flame. The bike pulls away as the goblin digs around for another projectile.

"While I do appreciate the fact that you're ready to go and I admire your enthusiasm, it may be a while yet before we head out. I'd suggest taking care of any last minute business here while I go round up some muscle, since it's unlikely we're the first ones to notice that structure. James starts making his way farther into the compound. "If you gents need me, I'll be in the arena. You're welcome to come along if you're otherwise set."

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
Ilori's dagger misses both goblins but punches a hole in the barrel that makes up most of the vehicle's chassis. Venia notices that it starts leaking gasoline and swerves away, but the goblin on the back isn't quite so observant. He lights one of his grenades and the vehicle immediately goes up in a fireball, taking both goblins with it.The remaining two attackers move in on the cart's position. The first lobs another one of the grenades at Dalaran, the other aiming its rifle at Ilori.

---

Grevvn
She takes the sword in the leg(though it doesn't seem to hurt her as much as it should), but easily blocks your kick.
"Alright, I'm done screwing around." She takes a swipe at you, her claws aimed right at your leg.

Ilori Stormwind and DalaranThe remaining goblins, between having their allies blown up and the implicit threat of backup, fall for your bluff. the drivers turn to flee, but those with weapons turn towards you, ready to pop off a few shots as they make their escape.

Grevvn
Your first attack connects, but she's ready for the second strike, batting it to the side and countering with her own kick to the chest.

Finneas doesn't see James anywhere in the arena. Perhaps he's still rounding up people to help with the expedition. Finneas heads back out the arena and finds a quiet spot close to the entrance where he'll be able to see James when he arrives. He lights his pipe again and lifts it to his lips and inhales deeply. Just then, he remembers the mysterious disc he'd been examining that morning. He'd brought it with him. Furrowing his brows, he takes the disc out of his pocket, and scrutinises it once again, tilting it from side to side and letting the strange green sand flow from end to end. The sand seems to sparkle in the sunlight.

Ilori Stormwind and Dalaran
Ilori's dagger fails to connect, but between the goblins' retreat and Venia leading the lizards in the opposite direction, it isn't long before your group is well out of the range of their weapons. The cart comes to a stop a few minutes later, once the goblins have disappeared over the horizon.

"Well, that was exciting."

Finneas
You've never seen anything quite like the sand before, but you do find five rotary switches spaced evenly along one side of the disc, as well as a cable that looks like it might be able to hook the device up to your radio.

Finneas is simultaneously intrigued by the sudden realisation and annoyed at himself for not having noticed this back in his apartment. He looks around and sees a box of crates next to a wall by a quiet corner of the building and heads towards it. He places the disc down on it and removes his radio and a small screwdriver from his backpack. He's about to unwind the cable from the disc and hook it up to his radio when he momentarily wavers. He has no idea what this device does. What if it damages his precious radio? He does have a spare back in his apartment, but it's not quite as portable as this one, and might take a bit of fixing before it'll work. Finneas frowns, but makes up his mind, connects the cable to his radio, and cautiously switches it on.

Just checking in to see what progress has occurred...

Ilori and Dalaran
You manage to scavenge Ilori's dagger, or at least what's left of it, as well as the charred remains of the goblin's satchel containing five of those metal orbs.Finneas
There's a loud buzzing noise when you switch the device on as the sand inside starts to vibrate. Through the radio itself you can hear a few snippets of other transmissions, but nothing from the disc itself. It's possible that since you'd never seen anything like it before, that simply no one around here has the technology to transmit to it yet.

Grevvn
As soon as you go down, the resident medic for these pits drops down next to you and starts tending to your injuries as some of the spectators start vacating the area, wrapping up the wounds and slipping a few painkillers into your mouth.Meanwhile, your opponent is being pulled up out of the pit by a group of her fans, who are about to leave for some sort of celebration of her victory.

Finneas frowns. He considers the device for a while, before giving up and unplugging it, returning it to his pocket. He also returns his radio to his backpack. He then turns and walks back to the entrance to the arena to see if James has arrived.

Peering inside the arena again, Finneas doesn't see James anywhere. He pouts slightly, wondering if he perhaps misheard, and there was somewhere else he should look to find James. The fighting pits perhaps, on the other side of the facility? He turns and begins to walk.

As he's walking, Finneas at first amuses himself whistling a jolly tune he remembers from his childhood. He soon stops, though, bothered by the thought of the object in his pocket. He instinctively feels at his jacket to check that the object is still there. Is there anyone he knows who might recognise the thing? He finds himself thinking of his sister Filimena. She might have recognised the object. He remembers how, as children, they'd spent hours rummaging around various junkyards in their hometown, much to their father's consternation, looking for interesting treasures to add to their collections. It was a competition, almost, to see who could find the coolest treasures. She was always better at it than he was. If there was anyone who might have seen something like this before, it would have been her. But no. This is foolish thinking. He hasn't seen her in years. And he's probably never going to see her ever again. Finneas gives his head a good shake, trying to make himself stop thinking about her, focusing instead on getting to the fighting pits.

Once there, Finneas looks around inside. Sure enough, there is James, speaking to a human female. Finneas is half relieved to have found James, half annoyed to have gone looking for him in the wrong place to begin with. Rather than heading in, Finneas once again stands at the entrance, hoping to meet James as he's exiting, or to catch his eye should he glance in his direction.

Winona is in the middle of offering the crowd a round of drinks when James pulls her away, grumbling under her breath. "James if you call me that again I'm gonna steal your shins and use them as stilts. And I was just on my way to the bar, dammit! What's the job?"

When Grevvn stomps away his attendant directs an obscene gesture his way. On his way out he sees a halfling gentleman standing in the doorway, apparently waiting for someone.

Finneas turns and faces the approaching half-orc, surprised. "Who, me?" he asks, pointing at himself. "No, no, no, no, no," he chuckles nervously. "I haven't seen my mother in years! Do miss her slightly, if I'm honest, but I don't imagine she'd be very pleased to see me! Haha! I'm waiting for James, over there!" He points at James, while simultaneously backing up slowly into the room.

Dalaran
Venia stops in the middle of patching up the bullet wound in her shoulder and turns to the secret robot. "Why are you walking if we still have the wagon?"

James
Winona stomps off in the direction of the bar when you walk away, grumbling something that you cannot quite hear.

Finneas manages to catch himself against a pillar, spins around to face both Grevvyn and James, and begins to stretch his arms. "Oh, I don't know about that. Maybe one day, I could learn from you," He says, smiling sheepishly at Grevvyn in particular. "For now it's the pan flute for me!"

He turns to James. "So. Any luck finding people?"

Desert Group
Neither of you know much about the mining company itself, but Dalaran has heard of Shatterpoint Gorge before. No one knows what made it, possibly the impact of some huge object that disappeared one day, but the formation itself is one giant hole in the rock, a near-perfect circle with spiderweb cracks radiating out from it. It's dangerous to cross if you aren't careful, but it's a much faster trip than taking the long way around.

Venia pets one of the lizards before climbing back into the driver's seat. "Then we'd best be off then, I think. Don't want to be caught out here once the suns set."

---

Refinery Group
After about an hour of gathering any gear you'll be taking with you on this trip, you meet up in the garage at the truck that's more or less reserved for James, a similar grapple-cannon model, more heavily-armored with some spiked bits along the front and sides. Road Warrior is painted in red on the driver's side door. The mechanic is nowhere to be seen, though he has left behind a toolbox with some supplies inside, a duffel bag containing some medical equipment, and a note that reads James; try not to crash it this time! -Fox, along with the keys.

Winona has already arrived and is looking through all this stuff, her own bag loaded up in the back. There are two hatchets hanging from her belt, as well as a shotgun that looks far too big for her to use slung across her back.

---

Badic Ironforge is late. Of course, the fact that the goliath only told him about this mission ten minutes ago didn't help, but the fact remains that he is late. The dwarf has been stopped at the refinery for a few days to resupply, and as with everyone else, he has been drafted into a scavenging run. As such, he has been spending those ten minutes running around and gathering what he needs, his pet coyote lagging behind him. He stumbles into the garage only a few minutes after James and his group have assembled.

Hrmph!

*Badic stuffed the last few bits of equipment into his dusty leather rucksack, taking care to fold the several sheets of notepaper he'd been sketching his latest designs on, and store them in the back panel. He reach out to grabbed his ammo pouch from the nearby chair and fixed it to his belt, before slinging the rucksack over his broad, stout shoulders. Badic turned, and picked up his sidearm from the table, his fingers dancing lightly over the polished metal barrel. He had been in the middle of cleaning the fine weapon when the Goliath, who's name Badic had never bothered to learn, offered him a place on the salvage team. He muttered to himself as he made his way to the garage.*

"Bloody 10 minutes notice! They could have given me more time. Gah!

Neveah! Here girl!

Calusa; a sandy-skinned, giant lizard, uncurled from her spot under the desk, and stretched out, easily 7 feet long from nose to tail. Her long tongue flicked out to taste the air, and she tilted her head in Badic's direction, looking at him with a longing that asked only 1 question.

"Oh here", *Badic growled, handed her a strip of chewy, dried meat*. "Make it last you, I have no more until we get paid for this trip!"

*He reached over and scratched her under her jaw, then started to jog through the corridors of the refinery, hoping he wasn't too late and missed the truck.

Badic pushed his way through the swinging door, and into the parking garage. He was a stout fellow, with broad shoulders characteristic of his race. His skin was tanned, almost leathery from time spent in the searing desert sun, and hair and beard were a deep mahogany brown that framed his face and ruddy cheeks. Stepping into the garage, he stopped to take a breath, hands on knees, before casting his gaze around the carpool. A moment later, Neveah scurried in behind him*

Action: Badic takes a look around the garage

(Second perception check is made with the new character stats)

Waiting to hear the results of starting our travel into the Shatterpoint Gorge area... :(

Team Desert
A short time later, your map indicates that you should be getting close, and in fact should be seeing the crater any moment now. But as you crest the hill… nothing. There is a cluster of buildings in the distance that you assume to be your destination, but Shatterpoint Girge is nowhere to be seen.

Team Rodney
Badic doesn't see much in the garage as most of the vehicles have been taken out on run already today, but there are a few mechanics running around preparing to receive cargo or working on damaged trucks. There is one truck still in its spot however, manned by a half-orc, a halfling, and two humans. Presumably this is your ride.

*Badic listened to the roar of the engine, and felt the jerk as the acceleration kicked in, and the truck sped out into the desert. He gripped the side of the truck with one hand, and casually petted Neveah with the other. With intrigue, he looked out over the side of the truck to the vast wasteland*

Finneas can see some movement out in the sand, winding around the landscape as it slowly moves towards the truck. This continues for a few minutes until Winona swivels around on the harpoon gun and spears the creature that just jumped out of the sand.

"We got worms!"

Finneas stares at the worm that Winona just shot and gulps. Already. What does he have on him to fight with? A rapier, a dagger. It doesn't feel like much, and he isn't exactly a seasoned warrior. He frowns slightly and brings his left hand to hilt of his rapier, drawing it. Here goes nothing.

The whistle of the harpoon firing sounded like a call to arms to Badic. He jumped to his feet, and pulled his sidearm in a smooth, practiced manner, gripping the stock in his right hand, and wrapping his left fingers over the top in a 2 handed grip to brace the firearm against the motion of the bouncing truck. Badic scanned the battlefield through the gun-sight, waiting for the opportunity to fire

"Stay!", he whispered through gritted teeth to his lizard.*

Just doing a quick check in and waiting for further developments... :)