Scene 1 - And the gunslingers followed...

Spline looks up at Beretta and says

"Looks like Mattie here ain't able to join us or trust in us. I guess that's just how her trials have moved her. If you should'a change your mind, Maddie, we're here for you. A sense of fellowship and trust and belonging is a rare treat in these dark days, and part of me feels a sadness for you, that you don't seem able to share that with us. But as they young'uns say these days 'You do you'."

"For now, aye, here's some food, here's some gut-rot - the best we've got here to drink, more's the pity - and if you head out to that barn building over there you'll find shelter and some warmth."

"And if you look up at the top of the loft, you'll see the parcel left for you, or I s'pose it's for you, by that ol' laughing daemon Black Francis. You choose whether you wanna bring it in here to open with your companions, or, yeah, to do with as you will."

"Oh, and in case you are making the mistake of confusing our openness and generosity with weakness" tones in Beretta.

"I'm'a guessing that Spline, Podge, and I could rid the world of you and your friends here pretty damn quick smart if we had a mind to. But we don't have a mind to. We don't want to do that. But if you were to do something as foolish as draw on us? Well. If you force our hand, then you force our hand.

You all get the sense that Spline and Beretta have seen a lot in this here sick broken seeping fractured world. That they've lost a lot but also gained a lot. And that part of what they've gained is some pretty deep empathy and wisdom and even a deep love for their fellow people out there struggling against it all. But at the same time, they are made of something as hard as the iron in gunna of Elden Steel.

Spline now turns his head to the rest of the party. He's clearly curious - and hopeful - about how they all will respond to his offer and Mattie's refusal to accept it.

Mattie Adler

Adrasthea

Dec 23, 2023 10:20 pm

Mattie clucks her tongue and tips her head as a gesture of giving thanks, then makes her way towards the top of the loft. Who knows what kind of parcel it is and what it held for them. If it is dangerous, she should bring it some place, where it wouldn't do harm. If it taunted them or urged them - they may have to cut their stay short. Whatever it may be - business first, safety first. She'd look out for her group no matter what.

Dec 23, 2023 10:33 pm

Henry wants nothing more than to crack some joke about how Mattie was the most popular gal at her coming of age dance... but she is a member of his ka-tet, and she has always been the strongest of them all- tough in a way that he admired and would maybe never be. 'Mattie's sure a little rough around the edge-' Henry speaks sofly 'But she has pulled our skin out of the fire many a time.' the young man sighs. 'And saved my life more than I am comfortable admitting. She is the best among us- and while I was taught the old words and manners, She speaks truth- as blunt as it is. We should all be running out for yon package.' Henry sits up straight. 'I know who you are, Lady Baretta- and what you can do- and your Ka-tet must be equally as competent to keep you company. I cry pardon if I offend but I would paint this place in my own blood if I thought you would do me and mine harm, as you kindly reminded us you could if you had the ambition.'

He turns towards Spline. 'Glamour me then, Sir.' he sighs. 'I know not what will happen but I perhaps enjoy the roll of the dice more than I should...'

Last edited December 23, 2023 10:47 pm

Dec 23, 2023 11:10 pm

Spline responds:

"I'm reminded of that saying - you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink? Feels somewhat apposite given this here world and this here meeting of folks.

"And I'm glad that you'll join me in this, Henry Spatchcock. I have the feeling that we will both know it to be meet and right that we entered into this communion together."

Dec 24, 2023 2:58 pm

Mattie moves towards the two-storey wooden barn - it's just 20 yards or so from the living quarters. The building is sturdy enough to look fairly safe - but it has definitely seen better days. Or months. Or more like years...

Entering, there is a heavy sweet dusty smell of hay and straw. For a farmstead out here in this desert wasteland, they seem to be surprisingly well stocked.

As she nears the top of the wooden ladder leading up the loft, Mattie spies the package.

It almost anti-glows - seems to rightly suck the light out of the shadowy dark-woven air of the low space, suck it down into and through itself. It's about 8 inches square, nestled in some hay on the floor.

And as she spies the package, Mattie hears a voice in her head...

"Ahhhh come now, gunslinger, yes, Mattie, come to us... for we have such sights to show you..."

Oscar Potts

microtheMacroBear

Dec 24, 2023 9:36 pm

"Henry, we shouldn't let Mattie face the package alone. I cry your pardon, Mr. Spline, but I can't. Bertie, be good and stay here." Oscar says and then stands.

He leaves the humble abode and says to Beretta as he passes her."Cry your pardon."

Oscar quickens his pace to catch up with Mattie as he watches her enter the barn.

Last edited December 24, 2023 9:39 pm

Dec 25, 2023 1:03 am

Henry looks toward Oscar. 'Mattie's a tough old bird- if she wanted us with her she would have said so... but chase after her if you've a mind, Oscar. Henry ruffles the fur on Berties head. 'Besides I already committed to stayin' here for the glamouring. Henry watches the young man make his apologies and head out. He smiles down at Bertie. "Looks like it's just you and me, dog. Ready to trip the light fandango?' Bertie was a good boy, and Henry enjoyed letting him know that.

Last edited December 25, 2023 2:51 am

Dec 25, 2023 9:49 am

OOC:

Mattie/@Adrasthea - please make a WIS check to resist the compulsion the voice is placing on you to rush to the package and open it.

(I've highlighted in green just so you don't miss the main message of this post - below is just some extra info from the rules that might be useful for you to check out)

As a reminder, to quote the rules:

'Players can "Spit in the eye of Doom" to boost their rolls. Roll your Doom die, and subtract it from your roll on an attribute test. Your Doom die is automatically downgraded regardless of what it rolls.'

i.e. you can make your roll more likely to succeed by rolling your Doom die.

Your Doom die is currently d6 - using it in this way will automatically downgrade it to a d4. The die resets to your maximum (currently d6) after a long rest.

Conditions for a long rest, to quote the rules, are:

"Long rest: A long rest lasts six hours, and is generally a full night’s sleep. Regain all of your hit points, reset your Doom die to its maximum, and regain the use of any character abilities that refresh on a long rest. You can only take a long rest in a safe location. What counts as safe is up to the GM. This is usually a town with safe lodging, a structure that the band can fortify for the night, or something similar. There is no safety to be found in the wilderness and wastelands traveling between locations."

Dec 25, 2023 9:52 am

OOC:

I want to now wait several days to give Rose/@DragonDweller62 a chance to post - in particular given how busy this time of year is for many of us

Although Mattie/@Adrasthea do please feel free to make that WIS check I refer to in the previous post.

Mattie Adler

Adrasthea

Dec 27, 2023 5:19 pm

BeardHare says:

"Ahhhh come now, gunslinger, yes, Mattie, come to us... for we have such sights to show you..."

"You sure would like that, wouldn't you." This isn't Mattie's first rodeo. Whatever it is, nothing good will come of this ... gift. She closes the distance towards the package. Why had the farmers brought it up here, she wonders. Sure she understands not wanting to be around such dark magic, but to put it at the top of the ladder...strange people indeed.

Mattie plans to sleep with one eye open, if sleep is in her future at all.

She feels her companion before she even hears his steps. While nudging the thing with her toes tentatively, Mattie states: "Seems they spoke true. There's a package up here that wants to be opened by us." The moment she says the word us she feels that opening it all by herself won't do. The young woman is immensely glad Oscar is here with her. "Wanna check it out?" She waits for him to come up the rungs, then says: "What say you? - open it now, or later?"

Might be a good idea to get it over with and not endanger any more people ... together, however, they may be stronger against whatever is in there. She does not feel much inclined to touch the darn thing, but her curiosity makes her pick it up carefully with her left hand. Not quite sure what she expects, she waits for a breath or two - then shakes it. "Hm...seems light. Shall we?"

Last edited December 27, 2023 5:35 pm

Rolls

WIS vs 10 - (1d20)

(6) = 6

Dec 27, 2023 6:06 pm

OOC:

Love that post Mattie/@Adrasthea!

As you've narrated, with that roll you resist the urge to open the box.

For the action in the barn, I think it's over to you now, Oscar/@microtheMacroBear!

Rose Maynard

DragonDweller62

Dec 28, 2023 4:23 am

SenorDeebs says:

"Looks like it's just you and me, dog. Ready to trip the light fandango?'

"Make that one more, if'n ya don't mind." Rose grins at the lingo she's picked up and steps forward to receive Spline's glamour. She had been weighing the decision over in her head, whether these folks could be trusted or not, but something told her that the Black Man's trap was all lain in that box up in the barn's loft. She didn't doubt that the Black Man could turn gunslinger against ka-tet, but she did doubt that he could lay two traps at once without a hitch. And besides, Mattie and Oscar had looked out for each other many a time—what was one more?

Besides, if Rose's ka-tet really was in it for the long haul, who was she to refuse aid from an old and wise mentor? That was the stuff of legends right there. "Never had a spell cast on me before," she jokes.

Last edited December 28, 2023 4:23 am

Dec 28, 2023 5:49 am

OOC:

No need to hold back posting now as everyone has posted recently.

Spline indicates to Rose and Henry that they should sit with him at the table - Spline in the middle of one of the long sides of the table, Rose and Henry opposite him on the other long side.

"This here glamour, this magic, this is a big thing, just so y'all know. We'll be using that thinning that has been'a happening more and more these last... years? To tap into that power and the visions that come from it."

"I offer this gladly to you, with the hope to aid you in your righteous and god-blessed quest for the Tower. And doing this will require some hard choices, some harm, some giving up of things you will not want to give up, to make it happen, to make it work right."

"I offer it to you, with the knowledge that a lack of trust between you, our guests, and us, your hosts - that this could be a'holding you back from your path to the Tower."

"But that Mattie there, she is the one trusting us the least - and as is her blessed and god-given right, she is not sitting here with us."

"If you still want to join me in this, we'll do it. But I need you to enter into this with your eyes wide open."

With that, he lets out an involuntary fox-like vocalisation - high-pitched, pained...

Dec 28, 2023 7:02 am

"This here glamour," says Spline "it'll only be worth it, will only have done it's here job, if builds trust between us."

"Part of its power comes from forging bonds of dark connection. It's not a gentle thing, this bonding, not for none of us."

"If we do this, you'll'a find we suddenly a'sharing some of each other's memories."

"Being suddenly aware of a darkest most awfullest of shameful secret memories, something we know could destroy us if it made its way out into the world. One such memory from each of us."

"After the glamour ends you will remember these secrets. If you had a mind, you could tell them to others. In the awful logic of this spell - this ain't good holy magic, ye can tell - that shared knowledge witnesses to us all the power of the spell to see into each of us, to speak truth - and gives us the power to destroy each other - trust of a kind..."

"The other part of the spell's power comes from a choice we must make for each other. Each of you must choose one thing that I, the spell-caster, will loose, to power the spell. It could be a year of my life - bringing me a year closer to my death. My most cherished memory. The love of someone I hold dear."

OOC:

Keep an eye on the Lines and Veils as you choose these, if you go ahead with the spell.

"And then - then you can ask me three questions. Anything you like. I will tell you all and everything I know in response to those questions. I've been around this here world many a long year. I've seen many things. I've been a gunslinger. I've loved and hated and killed and fathered. I hope there would be some things I could help you with, some knowledge or thoughts, that would speed you on your way, that would be worth the cost of this spell."

OOC:

@DragonDweller62/Rose @SenorDeebs/Henry - do you want to join Spline in this glamour?

Dec 28, 2023 7:39 am

"Or..." adds Beretta, cocking her head at the two of you from where she is standing behind Spline "you could just go ahead and trust our words, and not be doing with any of this dark glamour magicalness..." and she lets out a throaty chuckle.

Oscar Potts

microtheMacroBear

Dec 28, 2023 3:08 pm

"Pretty sure Rose and Henry would want us to wait.", says Oscar as he enters the barn. He winces a little as Mattie shakes the thing.

"That feels wrong, but Jack's magic always feels wrong. If Francis isn't Jack, he sure is related.", muses Oscar as he closes the gap between Mattie and himself.

He looks at the package in Mattie's trail worn hands and sighs. He turns his head, watching the dust motes dance lazily in the light cast from the open barn door.

His brow crinkles making his face look old for a moment. He kicks at a stone with his worn sneakers, then says, "Well, I think you're right. We should open it sooner than later, but we should wait for them to finish their palaver. We'll want them if this becomes a monster or rips a hole in the universe. Also, we should open it outside. You know, in case we need to run."

OOC:

Do I need to roll Wis or is it working it's magic only on Mattie? I figure Oscar walked into the barn basically at the moment Mattie turns around and addresses him.

Last edited December 28, 2023 3:17 pm

Dec 28, 2023 3:26 pm

As Oscar catches sight of the deeply dark compellingly wrong package he hears a voice in his head...

"Ahhhh dear soft lost childe, dear Oscar, come to us, we want you, we like you, think of all the fun we could have together..."

OOC:

You guessed right, @microtheMacroBear/Oscar - please make a WIS check to resist the compulsion the voice is placing on you to rush to the package and open it.

OOC:

Another thought - just looking at your Shimmer Powers - if you wanted to try and provoke truthfulness from Spline or Beretta you could try using Manipulate Emotions to do that. And/or maybe trying Mind Swap you could let Mattie or Henry into the body of Spline or Beretta and get an actually somatic feeling for what they're like and thus perhaps trust them more (or less, of course, depending what they say!) - maybe get access to some of the unconscious feels/thoughts of the other, again helping build trust (or not, obviously, again depending on what you learned...)

Dec 28, 2023 3:27 pm

BeardHare says:

"Or..." adds Beretta, cocking her head at the two of you from where she is standing behind Spline "you could just go ahead and trust our words, and not be doing with any of this dark glamour magicalness..." and she lets out a throaty chuckle.

'Is this about trust? Henry asks Beretta quietly. 'I thought the glamour to be a boon- but you seem to advise against it...' He was confused by the offer and then the advice to leave off of it. Had the loneliness of their squat addled the gunslingers minds?

Last edited December 28, 2023 3:28 pm

Oscar Potts

microtheMacroBear

Dec 28, 2023 3:54 pm

OOC:

I think Oscar is more concerned with the box at the moment and I'd like to conserve the doom die for a little. Ok, Here we go! WIS SAVE!

Rolls

Wis - 10 - (d20)

(1) = 1

Dec 28, 2023 3:56 pm