GM: [The dialogs are posted: frank.robertsguild.com/nara (no www)] ELV and Jace fall back to the jungle line. The catch up begins. Sherlock: Heh, is that the one with the big truck named Goliath and the lasers? That's my favorite: OK, OK, now I'll focus before we start talking about Streethawk. Sherlock: I can't get to frank's website, darn proxy server, so I'll have to get the history tonight. So, barring anything I don't yet know about, I see us having 2 objectives: 1. Round up our folks 2. Get of this rock (if there's a bright center of the universe, this is the place it's farthest from) To accomplish that, I'd say we head to the port city. It's the biggest in the area, so that's where everyone else is probably headed...either voluntarily or as lizardman slaves. Thoughts? Jace: ELV question? Since we got our party somewhat together, do we want to finish what we started or abandon the prison break? Since we are mostly together i say we forget the guy and let him rot. Besides we have caused enough trouble in that town. GM: [But no one got shot! ELV leave a town without getting shot?] Sherlock: I think we should rescue him. I rather have a smooth trip to the port instead of having to watch out for tribesmen trying to ambush us cause we didn't pull their buddy out. Either way, I would like to head into town with Marvel to see if we can score some additional supplies and maybe better maps of the surrounding area. Since they're closer to the port, they should have more info about it. Also we might be able to get a clue as to what this guy did to get thrown into jail...I know what the tribemen told us, but for all we know, he could be some sorta religious psychotic. If that's the case, I like Jace's idea of letting him rot. GM: [Is that the plan?] Sherlock and Marvel head into town. Things have begun to settle down. Sherlock and Marvel note two patrols on the streets, each with 4 members (up from 3). Where to and what's the plan? Sherlock: Well a simple stroll around town. I know part of the layout. Not I'm looking for the jail and a general store. Preferably a different general store than the one I boosted the goods from. For the jail, I just want a scope of what it looks like, ie, standard 1 room jail or something more significant. For the general store, I'm looking for maps. ELV: Sherlock beat me to it. So since they are new to the town they can go in for the info. And I agree as well. If this guy did something really bad then he rots, but we can let them know we decided not follow through. They seemed like honorable people. So not only do I doubt he's a real criminal, but I also don't think it will become a death feud if we pull out. So... We also need to keep in mind another priority. Getting the hell out of here is nice but we also DON'T know what the hell we are doing out here in the first place. I would say our priorities would be.. 1. Get info on rescue guy, get supplies. 2. Find out what the hell we are doing here (our mission could have something to do with this place!). 3. Get the hell out of dodge based on what we find out. It would suck big time getting out of here only to find out our mission was here.... With that said also to keep the team informed -> realize that if we rescue this guy the tribesman will help US which is good, but the townspeople are likely gonna be hatin' big time. So we are trading one problem for another! GM: [Let's try more details] Sherlock and Marvel enter the town from the north down the main street. They past a magic shop, mount shop, the bank, there's only one general store and the tavern. The jail is a two story building larger than most other buildings in the town, made of brick. Things have begun to settle down. Sherlock and Marvel note two patrols on the streets, each with 4 members (up from 3). ELV: Hey, we could always burn the forest down. That'll distract them. Sherlock: Magic shop? OK, I'll send Marvel in to the general store to look for maps. I want to head to the magic shop and look around. I agree with El V. After reading the history, the tribesfolk are honorable, otherwise they would have wasted all of us as soon as they had the chance. Also agree we have a dilemna. We help the tribesmen, we piss off the townsfolk. But only these townsfolk. I get the impression that each of the towns is sorta its own separate entity. Interesting thought: Nara is our objective. True, it would suck to get back to HQ only for them to have us turn around and come back. Still, I got the strong impression we were enroute back to HQ from a training exercise when stuff went tango uniform. We have 1 member who's unaccounted for, that we still need to find. Marvel and I have an idea on how to get to the port city. I think that's the best place for us to take are of all the objectives El V listed. We just need to figure out whether to rescue the guy or not. Sherlock: You laugh, but that approach does have it's strong points. Too bad we don't have any smoke grenades...drop them down an airshaft or chimney...gives you the same effect as a fire. ELV: Hey, Maybe GM was a little more forthcoming with you than me.... I started out with. You are in a dark room. You can see nothing, you can taste nothing, you can smell nothing, you can feel nothing. I don't even know where we were headed, where we were coming from or what our mission was/is. Do you? I didn't see any of that in the dialog. ELV: Uh laugh.... I was serious! Mwahahahahaha.... Where there's El, there's trouble. Besides all these trees just get in the way. By the time I'm finished we'll be able to SEE our way to the port city... GM: [See here we go! Read the first thre paragraphs of ELVs dialog. Nevermind I'll read it for you - Who are you? - a captain in a military Special Forces unit. You are the first in command of the Black Dragon Team 1. What happened - You and your team were returning from a training exercise in a small spacecraft capable of less than warp speed. The last thing you remember is the pilot reporting problems and ordering everyone to buckle up. How you got to this spot it's unclear.] GM: [note to self.... ELV, Sherlock, Jace not a responsible team that environmentally friendly] ELV: Now that I have been sufficiently embarrassed again, (thanks Frank)... Okay, our new objectives become. 1. Rescue criminal (provided he's no bad guy). 2. Get help from tribesman to find remaining team member. 3. Get the hell off of this rock. In the interim if we find some comms gear capable of off world communication we also need to get a message back to the home world. I would imagine standard op would be to SAR our happy asses. GM: GM: [There for ya dawg!] Whatever the objective it doesn't change Sherlock and Marvel's scouting mission. Sherlock and Marvel are in the town ELV and Jace are watching from the north. A turn is coming on what Sherlock and Marvel encounter. [Oops did I say enconter - I meant find] ELV: Time to watch Sherlock get into trouble. So everybody can stop pickin' on lil ole me. Sherlock: [Don't worry partner, I'll do ya proud.] This is where you say, "Hmmm, that's just crazy enough to work..." Besides, all we've seen on this planet is trees, losing a few thousand acres won't kill them. How we got here does raise one interesting question. We were returning from a training mission when things when bad. It could be that this is some sorta extended training mission. Kinda like when they take the Rangers and drop them off in the middle of a swamp and they're expected to find their way home. But in this case, we were drugged, separated and gentle laid onto the ground. Remember, no parachute, no burns or other types of injuries and we all happen to have the same type of equipment, but only hand to hand weapons. Interesting. Bring on the pain Frank, I'm ready. So, just how many of our team are we missing? Now I'm counting 1 pilot and 1 jr team member. GM: [Oh it's coming.....] The body count is 7 - Pilot, Co-Pilot, ELV, Sherlock, Jace, Marvel and Lyco. Sherlock: Sweet. I know Marvel is our linguistics guy, what's Lyco do? GM: Marvel is medic/linguist. Lyco Explosives and heavy weapons. Sherlock: Oh ho ho hoooo. Bring on the heavy artillery GM: Sherlock heads into the magic store. The sign on the door says thieves will be vaporized. The shop is pretty small. There are several shelves with scrolls, rings, necklaces on the shelves. An old dwaven woman sets behind the counter. She watches Sherlock carefully as he makes his way through the store. Marvel is out scouting and makes his way into the tavern. He manages to talk his way into a local card game. He gets one of the players to give him some credits after he agrees to give the player 1/2 of what he wins. Marvel manages to win several big hands, after paying his debt he walks away with a hand full of stones - 100s. He makes his way to the frieght office where he gets a detailed map of the area including trade routes/major rodes. Still got 90s left. Marvel seeks out Sherlock. [I can't believe you guys didn't think of that. Gambling! easyest way to make money.] Sherlock: Gambling? Too subtle, we just usually beat people over the head, still, I'll have to give it a try next time. I'll browse around the shop, looking that things that peak my interest. Then I'll walk over to the shopkeeper and see if she's willing to give some advice about the port city, surrounding area as well as info on the lizardmen and what happens to slaves after they're captured and sold. GM: "You don't belong here!" she remarks before Sherlock can utter a word. Sherlock: Hands raised, assuming a non threatening posture. "True, that's why I need some information about the surrounding area and how do deal with lizardmen when they've taken friends as slaves" GM: "You have no idea how true my statement is, you don't belong here. None the less, what kind of information do you seek. The lizardmen, they are nothing special. They travel in groups, horribly unpleasent creatures. They prey on the weak and those that travel alone. If you have a friend that was captured by them, your friend could be anywhere," ELV: Helps when the cops aren't on your ass. Okay so maybe my fingers were a little sticky but.... Okay maybe there is no excuse. Give me long enough I'll come up with one. Gambling. Nightfall? Ho hum, humdy dumb. Humpty dumpty..... Sat on a wall..... .... Had a gr8 fall.. Hmn, somebody should cut this grass. Blow something up ... Shoot someone. I know, smack her around a bit and see if she talks. Hey before they left I want to give them one of our confiscated radios, so we can keep in touch. Set the frequency and tell them to keep it out of site. Let us know when they come across something good. Sherlock: I thank her for the info. Even though I find her "you have no idea" statement kinda of odd, we're in a hurry. I'll head out, hook up with Marvel and go to where El V and Jace are. To El V: "OK boss, what's your plan?" see, that's called reverse delegation. GM: As Sherlock is about to leave, "Is that all?" ELV: Let's pop this guy. We need recon on the jail. If you can get inside it to do a preliminary scan great. Once we get the recon on the jail we can come up with a plan on how to get this guy out. We've got two uniforms that may come in handy, but since we left two naked guys in a store room it could be something they are looking out for. Maybe one of you could cook up a story about visiting someone. Maybe even the prisoner. Hopefully on this world prisoners have rights. In any event we need to know loosely how to spring this guy, if it can be done.. ELV: Ask about the jail... Might get lucky. Sherlock: "I'm curious as to why you don't think I belong here, but I'm pressed for time, so it'll have to wait." Sherlock: Good idea Before I leave, I'll ask her about the jail and what she knows about the tribefolk around the city. GM: "First I "know" you don't belong here. As for the Trace Clan, they use to visit this town often. Until the head of the garrison made advances on one of the scouts. A fight broke out and they were banned from the town. One of the clansman had developed a thing for the a local girl. He was visiting her when he got caught. Now he's in prison. He's already be found gulty of some made up crime and will be hanged in the morning," Sherlock: Alrighty then. We have some info. Not as much as we wanted, but it's a start. I say we wait until the wee hours of the morning, then infiltrate the jail. If we're quick enough, we won't hit too much resistance. ELV: Perfect. That's our chance. Guys it is time to plan. Where is Robin Hood when you need him? Time to use my tactics skill. We need a good recon of the town now. Frank if you would please a bitmap is in order now. I get the guys doing the recon to provide maps of the town center layout once they return from the scouting mission. Oh is this fittin to get fun! ELV: What do you think of the infamous let them bring him out for the hanging? This way we don't have to infiltrate the jail. What we need is to create a commotion so that the people go running every which way. THEN we use that confusion to nab our guy. Of course more needs to be fleshed out but that prevents the hard part which a focused effort on their part to kill us. They don't know we are after this guy so there should be no extra security or anything on him.... Jace: Ok how much Robin Hood we looking at here? No killing? Just get the objective and get out? ELV: Unless we want this town after us we need to try to avoid killing. A-team style. We can rough em up as much as we want to. Draw blood if you have to. No fatal things though. Now, that said, if we get cornered though the gloves come off. This is why I want to regroup once we get a map and go over a plan. I want a backup too if something goes wrong at any stage.... Sherlock; Sounds good, is flashy, and there's bound to be explosions. I was just thinking about taking them when there's the least amount of resistance. But I'm flexible. GM: The group has a map of the city and the route to the port town of Faki. ELV lays out the plan to free the Trace clansman. The group will makes its move as they are forming up to march the clansman to stage. Sherlock and ELV will use invisbilty art to get amoung the group. Marvel and Jace will launch an attack as they form up. In the confusion, ELV and Sherlock will stick with the clansman and free him. Marvel and Jace will fall back leading the group away. Eveyrone will meet south of the town. "Don't use the radios cause we're not sure how they are wired and it might give base a heads up. Marvel, Sherlock go and rent two rooms Me and Jace will sneak into town after you. Lets get a good nights sleep," [How's the for a plan?] Sherlock:Sounds like a plan to me Jace: Works good for me, though i do want to round up a new set of cloths or a hat or somthing so i wont be a dead giveaway before the plan gets going. GM: Sherlock and Marvel picked up local attire for the whole group. GM: Everyone gets a good night sleep with a watch rotation. The town wakes up pretty early and begins to prepare for the public event. ELV, Jace, Sherlock and Marvel head into town, dressed in local wear. Jace and Marvel take up position outside the jail amoung the crowd. ELV and Sherlock get into position near the jail. The troops begin to form up. ELV and Sherlock need to make Invisiblty art rolls. Jace will control the actions for Marvel. I'll make all rolls. Jace: Ok lets get a lay out of what the procession is going to look like. How big is the group taking this guy? Are they heading from the jail to the center of town? How many seconds might it take them to get from the jail to the stage? Nara: Sherlock Invis Art (corrected): Roll 1: 4, 4, 6 = 14. Nara: Sherlock Invis Art2: Roll 1: 4, 6, 5 = 15. Roll 2: 5, 1, 5 = 11. Nara: Sherlock Invis Art2 (again): Roll 1: 1, 6, 4 = 11. Roll 2: 2, 5, 4 = 11. Nara: ELV Invis Art: Roll 1: 4, 2, 5 = 11. Roll 2: 1, 4, 5 = 10. GM: [I don't think it matters who roles - Sherlock has issues with Invisiblity Art] Sherlock and ELV get into position. Details: Looks like it's gonna be a six man escourt team. All armed and in Riot gear. They will be leaving the the jail and headed to the center of town. marching it'll take about a minute. [Sherlock take over calling the shots] Sherlock: Sherlock has more issues than he cares to mention, but that's a story for another day. OK. We stick to the plan. El V and I will take the lead from Jace and Marvel. The have to cause the diversion before El V and I can snag the guy. Hows the guy look? Is he in any condition to run? Otherwise El V may have to throw him over his shoulder and take off while I deal with any pursuit. What's our total equipment. I'm sure it was listed before, but I don't recall exactly what we had. I remember Marvel and I scored a couple of pistols, but don't remember what Jace and El V scored. Probably don't have any of my patented smoke grenades do we? Jace: Sherlock you read my mind, i wanted to know if we got any smokers we can use? Suggestion: You may just want to do a Cold Clock on the guy to make things easier, he dont know us and we dont need him running the wrong way. Can control the situation a little easier me thinks. Heres how i want to start this thing off, I want Marvel on one side of the street and me on the other. When they get started out from the jail i want us to do a 35 count then bolt on to the street right at the group. Dont want them to close to the jail when we break. As far as the actions goes, Smokers first right into the middle of them if we have em, if Marvel and me got blasters, we use them in the air for attention. Also i want some of the worst war cries Marvel and I have ever done. We charge in making the most of it, on after a 10 count we draw them away to the North and try to lose them in the town or forest and then reform to the South with everyone. Sherlock:The game is set. Let's rock. GM: No smoke grenades boys, but let's get too it. Right on schedule the group leaves from the jail. The clansman is in wrist and ankle irons. Jace and Marvel rush at the group with loud battle cries. There are 6 men in the escourt. The two up from on the left side ready their rifles to take on jace while to the two on the right prepare for Marvel. The final two place their hands on the shoulder of the clansman. Sherlock: We'll do what we can El V and I will approach the 2 guards by the prisoner. El V will take the guy on the left with a Power Blow to the chest. I'll hit the guy on the right with a left sweep. GM: Both attacks will hit as long as they are successful. Will ELV and Sherlock maintain invisiblity Art after the attack? That'll take a roll after the attacks of -5. Let me know and I'll send the rolls. Jace: I will try a bull rush tackle to try to knock my 2 off balance. When turns permit ELV: Looks like I returned just in time for the fun. Looks like everything is under control as well. I'm falling in line with the plan. Two guys have their hands on this guys shoulder? Did Sherlock ever get into invisibility? I will wait for this to make my move. The first step will be to take out one of the two with a pressure blow to the back neck area. GM: Sherlock is invisible and is near ELV. I'll need INT rolls for everyone. You can also send your rolls for your actions and I'll sort it all out. GM: I need Sherlock's action and I'll do the roll and send on the turn. Sherlock: Still going with the leg sweep on the guy opposite the one ElV's taking. # Jace INT: 8 # Sherlock INT: 9 # ELV int: 14 # GM: INT: 17 # Jace Bull Rush: 11 GM: Jace slams into two of the men knocking them to the ground. Jace will need a roll to stay on his feet or he's going down ontop of them. Sherlock: Still going with the leg sweep on the guy opposite the one ElV's taking. # Sherlock Leg Sweep: 10 GM: The guy goes down and Sherlock appears. The prisoner is shocked. ELV: # nearest neck put him out: 12 GM: ELV connects and his opponent goes out. ELV appears. # Nara: Marvel's Attack: 12 GM: Marvel leaps into the air delivering a kick to one of his targets knocking him into the second. GM's Turn: Sherlock's opponent is scrambling to get to the ground. As is Marvel's. If Jace is still standing after his roll then his opponents will take a turn to get to the ground. If Jace fails they will both go for grapples. Round 1: # Jace still standing 8 GM: Jace stays on his feet. Round 2: Jace: Do a boot to the head on the guy Marvel didnt get down If it takes me more then one turn to get to him then i go for a disarm on the nearest guy i brought down. roll coming # Jace Boot to head or disarm: 6 GM: # GM: Dodge Boot! 13 GM: He's out two. All guards are down. Sherlock: Looks like all the guards are down. Now's the time to get the prisoner to try to get the prisoner out. I'll step back a bit and concentrate for a spell next turn. How's the crowd reacting? # Sherlock Concentration and Cast: 10 6 GM: Success, What spell? The crowd starts out in shock but quickly realize what's going on. There's some yelling and some of the townspeople are starting approach. ELV: While Sherlock finishes his opponent, I grab the Clansman by the elbow and say your with me, let's go, clan leader Gy sent us to save your loveshy ass. Is he in chains? If so I tell the prisoner to scan the guy I took out for keys, I would imagine he knows where they are! I'm assessing the scene while he does this, if not we are going to begin extraction.. Sherlock: Still search for the keys, but if my concentration and magic rolls come through, I'll be able to get the chains off of him without any problems... IF the rolls come through... GM: The prisoner smiles. [After Sherlock's spell we'll end the round and go from there] Sherlock: The spell is UNDO. The targets are the shackles on each of his ankles. It'll cost more points to do both, but I'll spend them. GM: The shackles fall off his legs. He looks at Sherlock still smiling. Round 2: Jace: Whats the activity coming for the jail where these guys came from? Since all are down should we split like we planned? If so i say Marvel and me head out they way we where going to go. GM: No activity from the jail - yet. ELV: We need two of the team to cover the rear. I guess that falls to Marvel and Jace. Sherlock is with me and the prisoner. Let's move people... Nobody on the team gets killed, interference only. If things get hot boogie ass out of here. We'll rally on the outskirts of where the woods begin so I don't want them to fall too far behind us during covering. GM: ELV calls out the formation and everybody moves. I'll need one roll from everyone to get moving. Sherlock: Uh, should I be worried about his smile? I mean he's in jail 'cause he was sleeping around with someone's daughter, right? Right? GM: [It's an I'm free smile, not a going to take over the world smile.] Sherlock: Whew. I'd thought it was a "you look mighty cute in dem jeans" smile. # Jace Move out: 11 # Marvel on the Move: 11 # Sherlock: Move: 10 ELV: # Get moving 8 GM: The group moves out quickly before the crowd or the other garrison troops can react. As they are leaving town (in a bit of a hurry) ELV spots a male in the crowd. He's about average height and wearing sunglasses caucasian skin tone with blond hair. ELV can only see from his head down. He stands out because he just watching the group. Sherlock spots a female brown skin tone dark glasses about 5'5". She's also watching intently. A quick scan of the area reveals nothing else. The group make it out of town and into the dense forest. "Thank you for saving me," Save it for when we re-join your tribe. We're not out of the woods yet. We are going to tail you back to your tribesman, as they now have to fulfill their ends of the bargain. Sherlock, did you catch that strange guy eyeing us? He was about average height and wearing Sunglasses. Caucasian skin tone with blond hair, I don't like it at all. I tell the prisoner to lead the way since they seem to do well finding their way around in the jungle. Chris you stick with him. Myself, Marvel and Jace shadow the two of them and fan out ourselves. I don't trust the situation and want sufficient rear coverage. I describe the male to the team as well. And if Sherlock mentions the woman to me I describe her to the team also. Sherlock: "No guy, but I saw lady, dark skin, wearing sunglasses too. Weird. I tell ya, if I didn't know better, I'd say this was a training exercise. Remember The Recruit. Training scenarios wrapped in training scenarios." ELV: Same thing I was thinking. Hehe, So do we play along or do we be like Picard and break protocol and lie, cheat, and kill steal and destroy our way through? Let's go with it for now as planned. When we meet up with the clan, I intend on milking them for every bit we've got coming to us. Group, Send a list of things you think we will need for our journey to the port city. Jace: Rations, clothing, ammo for what we have and a map of everything they know of in this area. East West North and South lets get some real bearings incase we need plan a battle like that of LOTR!! hehe course we arnt that big yet but still could be handy Sherlock: Interesting concept. I like Picard, but I like the current plan. We've come this far might as well see it through. For equipment, I'm missing my force sword and smoke grenades, for some reason I just don't feel complete without them. As far as other stuff, Kimo nailed it. Transportation would be nice to. It's hard to be cool without a decent set of wheels. GM: "Thank you for returning our clansman. We are indebted," says Gy. From the list: - Rations (1 week per person (good stuff) - Clothing (They don't wear much so they have none to give. Everyone is in local clothing provided by Sherlock) - Ammo (Everyone has a beam weapons with an extra battery cell) Jace has a pistol (he took from the scout) They give him two clips. - They don't use maps. The scouts know the area in detail all clans men know major areas. They confirm everything that Sherlock found out about the area. Locations of tribes, cities and the port. The clan also gives the location of a frequent Lizardman camp sight. (Sherlock's already been there). - They don't have have any force weapons. They suggest picking them up at the sea port. - No grenades - They do everything by foot. Off road is too bad for mounts. He gives ELV a piece of leather with the Trace Clan symbol on it. "In certain circles that my get you somewhere, in other's that'll get you killed. You look smart enough to be able to tell the difference," Sherlock: To Gy. "Have you seen any other 'non-natives' besides us recently? We saw some folks who definitely weren't from the village." GM: "Nope, you are the only 4," SHERLOCK: That about doesn't it for me, I'd say we head on down to the big city and see what there is to see. Jace: How far we talkin this walk might be? Cause i got really soft feet and I might need Sherlock and ELV to switch on carring me if its more then a few miles or so. I say we roll. Just for placement i put the pistol in my right boot and the beam weapon in my belt around back. GM: It's a two day journey on foot (full of lions and tigers and big nasty stuff, oh my!). Jace: Ok like i said i may be good for like 2 hours or somthing you guys ready to take turns? We ever figure out why we are here, or did we boil it down to a training mission? ELV: To Team: Still no idea why we are here, but things are starting to come together. To Gy: Thank you in return for befriending us. Since we have a pretty good where we will be heading if you'll allow us to bed here for the night we can get a fresh start in the morning. I have a bad feeling about something we saw back in the town. Looking at Jace: Besides. My team is tired and will be useless if they don't rest those bunions and corns. Jace: still gona need help but ok =) ELV: Okay, Who's the scout? Whoever has the best skills for scouting/tracking/direction sense any of the above gets point. Single file line of site. Hey we need a name. Guys??? GM: Black Dragons Team 1 is the official team name. But "stranded in strange land with no idea what to do next crew" Sounds good to me..... ELV: I asked for that didn't? Let's roll. Sherlock: I'll take point. I figure I'll roam about 150 yards out from the main party. Sherlock: Uh, we're not lost, we're just looking around, yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. ELV: Sherlock takes point. Followed by me then Jace. Marvel brings up the rear. When we arrive in the port city I hit up the first strip club we encounter. I got some left over stones to spend.