In Service: A Science Fantasy Quest

[I.F. Ister]

"You can pull the memories from the head, right?" You ask Baba as you look out onto the choppy, murky waves. "That's not just something I dreamed up, is it?"

"Yes, but the technique I am familiar with will damage the brain — perhaps irreparably so." Old Baba affirms with a grim look.

"Would you be willing to do that?" The thought of that draugr's cold, empty, hollow eye sockets fills you with a strange, icy feeling. You dimly identify it as fear, the same sort of fear that crept up your spine and triggered every hair on your neck. You shudder, your shoulders shaking once before falling silent.

"Yes, I believe I would." You can feel her eyes on you. You know why she's agreeing to it.

"Then let's get outta here." You declare while looking into the water. "...I hate boats." You mutter, the wood shuddering under your hand.

"Alright, child." Baba says as she pilots the Widower's Plight towards the shoreline.

~~~~~~~

"So, how does this all work?" You ask as you stand in the almost disturbingly sterile basement of Baba's salon.

The basement is one thing and one thing only: white. White walls. White floors. White ceilings. White plastic wrap covers the myriad of old furniture piled up in corners of each room, remnants of a life spent cutting and styling hair.

There's a strange smell, far too clean and sterile for the clutter you see. The bleach scent accompanies the gentle humming of the strips of fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

In the middle of this specific room — which is notably clear of any sort of clutter-inducing furniture — is a wood table with a red, diamond shaped tablecloth. On the red sheet of cloth is a decapitated head clamped to the table.

The head of Arabesh-lel Kran-komar stares blankly at you as Baba hums pleasantly as she hustles and bustles around the room, reminding you of a bee hard at work. Of course, most bees don't have access to power tools. That is one of the stark contrasts that differentiates people from bees. People have power tools, bees don't.

Bees probably couldn't operate power tools either, not unless there were a lot of them all working together to do it. You think there was an old pre-Calamity movie about a bunch of bees doing things like that — something about a bee suing humanity and winning?

Pre-Calamity people were weird.

Regardless, Baba places a buzzsaw on the table. It's a blue-steel colored machine, CopperTech's blazen emblem displayed proudly on the side. It's an older model, about forty–fifty years out of date. This specific model is one of the smaller buzzsaws that CopperTech — a company that traditionally makes tools and construction equipment — perfect for the more minute work that certain jobs require.

"In order to gain access to memories," the old witch explains as she shaves the hair off of Arabesh-lel Kran-komar's head — the long, hairs flying , "one must first gain access to the brain." She slides goggles over her eyes as she picks up the buzzsaw and gives it a test whirl.

You raise your eyebrows and step out of the room, just in case something splatters. It would suck to get blood all over your clothes, you don't exactly have very many outfits. Perhaps you can mount an adventure to a clothing store sometime?

A few minutes later, a blood splattered Baba opens the door and invites you back in.

The head sits clamped to the now blood-red table — which is in turn clamped to the white-painted concrete floor. Of course, the head is now missing the top of its head and skull and the buzzsaw is now stained with blood. Arabesh's brain is exposed to the sterile air and what a sight it is.

The closest thing that it reminds you of is a kidney stone, just rather enlarged. Rock hard, strange angles, and lots of spikes. Metal spikes are plugged into the rock-like brain, put there by Baba.

"I thought…" You stand there, floundering for words. "...that there'd be more magic involved." You eventually settle on.

Baba shrugs, broad shoulders rising and falling with her hands. "Eh, it's a prelude to magic. The magic comes later." She says before squaring her shoulders and walking around the table. The old witch lays a hand on the rocky brain. "Now, there are some limitations to this method. I can only draw out three memories before the brain starts to break down, each further question deteriorating the brain more. A maximum of nine memories can be withdrawn before the brain will have deteriorated beyond use. Be warned, it is possible that the memory you want to withdraw will have been damaged or erased if the brain decays too much, so it's important that you ask the questions in the right order. Do you understand?"

You nod. "Yeah, yeah I do." You breathe in deep and hold it. Air hisses from your mouth as you breathe out. "Alright, lets do this."

Baba grins and holds her hands over the head, electricity sparking from the metal spikes and arcs up to her splayed fingers. The corners of her eyes spark with a purple-blue glow as her pupils dilate to pinpricks. A breeze blows your hair, an impossibility in this underground chamber.

"What are your questions?" Baba's words are filled with magical weight, dripping with energy and focus.

What are they? (You have 3 free questions before the brain starts deteriorating. At 9 questions the brain will be too decayed to support the magic.)
[ ] Write in

Some examples of questions are "What is the identity of the person or people who hired you?" or "What is your last memory?" or "What is the location of the people who hired you?". Obviously, you are going to have to be precise with your wording here.

Unlike most of these — where all questions are asked — only the questions that win the vote will get asked.

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: Apologies once more for lateness.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST. If you need more time to think of stuff we can extend the cut-off point to the day after tomorrow.

 

[I.F. Ister]

"What was the order of events that led to your death?" Establishing that should make things go smoothly.

The glow in Baba's eyes grows stronger, the purple and blue light shining brighter and brighter. Some strands of white hair escape her shawl and begin floating, suspended by energy sparking across her body. The lightning arcing between her fingers and the metal spikes picks up in intensity as she speaks.

"I was hired by a strange man using a glamour to hide his face, a Human if my eyes weren't deceiving me." The voice that comes from Baba's mouth isn't her own. If you were to be honest, it was a bit unnerving. "I would later learn that he wasn't just any old Human from some backwater world, but a Cornerstone Human — the only Humans that are actually worth anything. Why the Smith decided to add them to Forged Existence I will never know."

Okay, it's clear that this guy didn't think too fondly of humanity.

One of the biggest mysteries of the age is the sheer prevalence of humanity across Forged Existence. Why does nearly every world out there have humans? Why is it that when humanity disappears from a world, so too does the world?

What is humanities' purpose and significance? It is said that the Forger loved humanity, loved us so much that the Creator used us as the baseline for the vast majority of sapient beings. But who is the Maker beyond the individual who made reality?

Questions like these haunt the thoughts of humanity's greatest philosophers, oftentimes driving them mad with desire to know the truth of the matter.

"And I was hired for my race's natural resistance to magic wards. Which is a bit of a funny thing for my kind as most wards are keyed towards organic or formerly organic beings. Meaning our geologic makeup allows for us to slip past with ease. They asked for a blood sample, which I freely gave. It is difficult for most magic to get a grip on us for the same reasons as our resistance to wards." Baba continues speaking in that strange, disconcerting manner.

"What a fool I was. They strapped me down as they drew my blood and proceeded to slowly, excruciatingly drain me dry. I don't know what happened after." The lightning calms down after that as the hair that was floating fell back down.

"What's your next question?" Baba asks. She sounds a little out of breath but at least it seems she's back to normal-ish.

You breathe in through clenched teeth. The air hisses on the exhale. "Did you notice anything strange or out of the usual about your last job?"

The scene starts up again, lightning sparking, hair floating, eyes glowing, the works.

"Encountering a Cornerstone Human is always a strange thing. You lot don't tend to get out much and when you do it always ends poorly for the place you decide to visit. Visiting Cornerstone Earth is an incredibly rare opportunity. The air here buzzes with a potential not seen on any other world save, perhaps, those on the very border with Cold Unreality."

"They asked me many questions about myself and my biology. I answered truthfully, of course. What were a bunch of Humans going to do with the information. Humans — even Cornerstone Humanity — are weak, pathetic creatures. I am eternally ashamed to be even tangentially related to Humanity."

Baba finishes speaking and returns to normal. "Next?" She sounds a bit more out of breath this time.

"Can I use the question later? Like, can we do this ritual again later and the brain won't decay?" You ask and Baba almost goes to do the spell again before clocking your statement. She adopts a pensive look on her face as she considers your words.

"I believe so, yes, I could layer a stasis spell into the head, keep the brain in tip-top shape." She shrugs. "I was planning on going out and gathering the rest of the body by myself, so it works out for me."

"Lets do that, then. If I need to ask another question later, then it'll work. How long do you think it'll take you to get the limbs?" You ask. You don't really think that it would be a good idea for you to go out onto the water. Not while the Draugr's curse is still on you at least.

"Hmm, a few days? Four–five? Lets go with five." She hmms and taps her chin as she releases the magic.

"Alright." You nod, already thinking about what you're going to do for five days.

Spoiler: Downtime Options

You may pick up to 5 options and you may pick the same thing multiple times.

[ ] The curse the Draugr laid on you weighs on your mind, try and figure it out properly
[ ] It seems that Damien has returned
[ ] Pen seems to have a lot of knowledge about things, perhaps he might know something that can help with the investigation (Persuasion Roll. You can gain a bonus depending on what you want to offer as payment)
[ ] Buy something from Pen (Please include what you want to buy and what you want to pay)
[ ] Perform Super Science
-[ ] Research Something
--[ ] Gremlish Summoning Ritual
--[ ] Dullahan
--[ ] The Link Between Cultivation and Fallen Angels
--[ ] Write in
-[ ] Brainstorm New Ideas (Come up with new ideas that you can then start designing)
-[ ] Design a Creation (Create an actual design from an idea. You can specify what you want to get out of it)
--[ ] Troll-Muscle Fiber
--[ ] Enhancing Serum
--[ ] Fallen Angel Ballistic Fiber
--[ ] Ultra-Smooth Tubing
-[ ] Test a Design
--[ ] Zoom Powder
--[ ] RegenerThread
--[ ] Re-Cuffs
--[ ] Bloodthirst Pill
-[ ] Make Something (Some designs are materials, this is where you make something from them)
--[ ] Write in
-[ ] Optimize Creations. Which and in what way? (Have a chance to improve on a design in some way)
--[ ] Burninator
--[ ] Infragoggles
--[ ] Anti-Plant Spray
--[ ] MSB 10 (+15)
--[ ] Cutter Rounds
--[ ]Bloodthirst Pill
-[ ] Combine Ideas and Designs together (Pretty self explanatory, the more ideas you want to combine the harder it gets)
--[ ] ??? Thread: A thread with the healing properties of RegenerThread, the repair abilities of ReCuff, the strength enhancement of Troll-Muscle Fibers, and the toughness of Fallen Angel Feathers. (Requires all four of these to be at least at the Testing stage of super-science and will be very difficult to make properly)
--[ ] Write in (Include the desired outcome, if you would)
[ ] Visit a Facility
-[ ] Study at the Archives (Increases Mental Health) (Has a chance for you to come across some interesting bit of knowledge) (You may specify what you want to study)
-[ ] Meditate in the Chapels (Has a chance to increase Spiritual Health)
-[ ] Workout in the Gym (Increases Physical Health)
[ ] Train something/with someone
-[ ] Damien Rhodes (Blades of the Crow) (11 More Successes Needed)
-[ ] Damien Rhodes (Dance of the Crow)
-[ ] Damien Rhodes (Knowledge (Write in))
-[ ] Sean McCullen (Unarmed Combat)
-[ ] Old Baba (Magic)
[ ] Visit someone
-[ ] Damien Rhodes
-[ ] Old Baba (Not Available)
-[ ] Sean McCullen
-[ ] Someone else (Write in)
[ ] Take a Personal Action
-[ ] Go for a walk
-[ ] Write in (this can be used to do something that's not listed here, though I reserve the right to veto something if it couldn't be done right now)

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: I swear to God that I've forgotten something that should be on the options, but for the life of me I can't remember.

Also, as a side note, this has now the longest thing I have ever written. It easily beats out the minecraft fanfic I wrote in middle school. Actually, as a side-side note, do any of you remember the 'unofficial minecraft books' that came out years back? Those were funky to read, not gonna lie. Like actual, published minecraft fanfiction.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST.

 

[I.F. Ister]

Curses are a rather interesting subject, as far as magic goes. For one thing, they often seem to forgo the usual rules of magic — that everything has a price tag attached to it.

Curses seem to just passively exist, like they don't need any energy to fuel themselves. Curses also have an extremely broad range of effects ranging from causing someone to trip and embarrass themselves to literally forcing someone to stagnate and only grow weaker over time, never stronger.

There's such a broad range of their capabilities that they were given their own minor category of magical methods: Cursery. Cursery isn't only curses; it also contains any emotion-fueled magic. If your magic is fueled by emotions, then it's Cursery.

While emotion-based magics oftentimes can be used at any given time, proper curses can only be applied at significant moments in an individual's life. Furthermore, they also have to be negative moments in order to be a capital 'C' Curse. If it's a positive moment then you end up with a capital 'B' Blessing. Now, these things go hand in hand, a moment of true happiness can quickly turn into a moment of complete sorrow.

The story of Sleeping Beauty is an example of such a thing. The birth of a child is, oftentimes, a blessed thing — the child being heir and firstborn of a kingdom doubly or even triply so — however, the arrival of an uninvited guest can quickly sour the mood. This doesn't counteract the Blessings applied to the child, but it does allow for a Curse to be laid upon the youth's head alongside the Blessings.

As far as you can tell from your research, the curse laid upon you by the Draugr wasn't a capital 'C' Curse. It was just a normal curse fuelled by the hatred and jealousy Draugr have for the living.

Cursery, even proper Curses and Blessings, are disliked by Forged Existence because they break the rules. It's the same reason why super-scientists tend to go insane, to varying degrees of insanity. In order for Forged Existence to allow Cursery to work, there must be concessions made.

In Sleeping Beauty the Curse had two concessions. The first was the activator and the second was the breaker. Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and fell into a deep, death-like slumber. That was the activator, what caused the Curse to kick in.

When Prince Charming rescued her from Maleficent's Curse by utilizing True Love's Kiss he triggered the breaker. The breaker is the main concession, it's the thing that forces Curses and curses to stop working.

Breakers and activators can be the same thing. The vows one takes in marriage are an example of one. Upholding those vows allows you to keep the blessing or Blessing — depending on circumstances — but breaking them will force you to lose the blessing or Blessing.

You're pretty sure you know what the activator is for the Draugr's curse. As long as you don't go out onto water, the curse won't activate. The only problem is, you don't know what the breaker is.

However, it has to be mentioned in the curse's wording. So you have hints there. You just need to figure it out in order to break it.

As much as you might not like boats or traveling by water, it's still a useful tool to have in your toolbox.

(+3 to Mental Health)
(Gain a +10 bonus to Knowledge (Cursery) Rolls)

~~~~~~~

You crack your knuckles as you plop down in your lab chair. It's a rather comfortable white cushioned chair, if you do say so yourself. You had bought it from a yardsale that had been happening a few streets over from your apartment.

Your fingers wiggle as you grasp your tools of the day: a pencil sharpened to a fine point and a stack of crisp paper.

With a smile you reserve solely for moments like this, you set yourself to work.

Now then, time to answer the question of the hour: a way to guide yourself through places you're not familiar with.

Hours seem to pass by in a flash as you emerge from your super-science crafting fervor. Sitting on your desk is a single piece of crisp, eggshell white paper. Sitting on the floor around your desk, however, is the rest of the stack of paper you had prepared — crumpled up into small balls and tossed aside. The number two pencil you had also prepared is little more than a nub now. The pink eraser end rubbed away and the yellow paint is barely visible now.

But back to the important parts. Namely, the results. Your memories of the process are, as always, a bit of a rushed blurr. But, you do remember researching how the hell glasses lenses work.

The idea you came up with is a sort of HUD — a Heads Up Display — that you could overlay onto your glasses. The primary purpose it will have is to guide you through places you're not familiar with. With this, you won't get lost. As long as there's a connection to the internet for STEVE to pull up blueprints or to hack into the surveillance systems of wherever it is you're going, of course.

It's then that you notice something that you doodled in the margins of the paper.

You frown, sipping from a cup of coffee you don't remember brewing as you read it over.

If… if these calculations are correct… Then you think you could get a 33% increase in velocity from the Cutter Rounds just by slightly changing the angles of the axe-head!

However, it does come with some caveats. The Advanced-Cutter Round — as you've taken to calling the new model — while it hits harder and faster, allowing for far greater armor penetration, it is a great deal more inaccurate. You only barely got away with the inefficient design of the Cutter Round before, but with these new alterations… you're looking at an accuracy malus of at least 20%!

(Gain a new Idea:
-Pathfinder HUD: A basic Heads Up Display that shows you the path forwards as long as there's a connection to the internet and there are up to date blueprints or surveillance systems.)
(Gain a new Creation:
-Advanced-Cutter Rounds: Named for how the bullet 'cuts' through the air when fired. It acts as a hammer and chisel, breaking open armor. It moves much faster than the normal Cutter Round, but suffers from a decrease in accuracy. +4 AP to guns but -20 to hit.)

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: Alright, next update you'll talk to Pen. This is an opportunity to select something you wish to offer for his assistance.

[ ] More Bloodthirst Pills
[ ] Cutter Rounds
[ ] MSB-10
[ ] Write in
Also, I screwed up the wording for one of the options you selected (the Combining one), so I bumped the outcome of it to an Optimization as an apology.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST.

Spoiler: Rolls

Curse research roll
(Learning Roll DC 30,50,70,90: 60+10=70, triple success)

Brainstorming idea roll
(Craft (Super-Science) Roll DC 30,50,80: 35+15=50, double success)

Coming up with the Advanced-Cutter Round
(Craft (Super Science) Roll DC 30,50,80: 60+15=75, double success, bumped up to triple success because of a mistake on my part)

 

[I.F. Ister]

Entering the Bastard's Father is a bit different of an experience than last time. For one, it has customers.

Horribly out of place and out of time customers, but customers nonetheless.

A gaggle of medieval knights recline around the place, sipping from big wooden steins. You're not sure what they're drinking, but it's definitely not uniform.

"Lord Roger!" A laughing knight, a bright yellow sash marking his armor as his, claps the apparent 'Lord Roger' on the back. Metal clangs against metal as the laughing knight's gauntlet collides with Lord Roger's rounded pauldron. "You have to try this!" Yellow Sash places a pink liquid-filled martini in front of the drowsy-looking Lord Roger.

Lord Roger takes one look at it and then looks down at the drab brown alcohol filling his stein before he apparently comes to a decision. Curling a gauntlet around the glass stem of the glass, he tosses the crystal's contents — olive and all — down his gullet.

The anachronistic knights don't pay you much, if any, mind at all. They're simply too engrossed in consuming new types of alcohol to be bothered by a stranger.

The bartender — the same bald-eyebrowed and bushy-mustache bearing man as before — nods as you approach the door. You return the nod and the door swings open, revealing the stairs. Which you climb, of course.

Your knuckles rap thrice against the dragon head carved into the hardwood of Pen's office door. It doesn't take long for it to click and open, revealing Pen in all his glory.

"Ah, Miss Williams. I had been wondering when I would next see you. Please, have a seat." He invites you in with a slight bow and a sweeping gesture. You accept the invitation and sit down in the same chair you sat in the last time you were here.

The room is much the same as the last time you came. Above all else, the room gives off a feeling of being lived in. This is more than an office for Pen, this much is clear. There's far too many little touches of humanity for it to just be another place for him.

There are dozens of pictures on the walls. The vast majority are of Pen and dozens of other people in various different situations. However, the picture frame on Pen's desk is what draws your attention the most.

The most striking part of it is that it's not a picture, but instead a painting. A portrait of three people all staring out from the canvas. One is clearly a younger, happier looking Pen with a head full of long, brown, luxurious curls and a broad smile on his face. This younger Pen doesn't have any wrinkles adorning his skin and certainly doesn't have the deep crow's feet surrounding his steel gray eyes.

The other two you couldn't place. One is a pretty blonde woman with cunning, green eyes and mouth pressed into a thin smile. She seems to be around Pen in age. The third figure is much younger than the both of them, a young boy with black curly hair and a fierce smile on his mouth.

You notice that the younger Pen's got his arm around the woman's shoulder, a golden band visible on his hand.

A marriage gone bad? Whatever the case, it's probably not your place to pry.

Of course, you don't have to as Pen notices your gaze and decides to indulge you.

"Marriage is… interesting. Bonds two families together… as long as the vows are kept." He stares at the painting, sorrow reflected behind his eyes in a rare moment of him letting his guard down.

And then the wall is back up and he turns his steely gray eyes onto you. "What can I do for you, Miss Williams?"

"I want information." You say, not wasting any time. Pen leans back in his chair, elbows on the armrests and fingers templing together. "Anything you have on the break in at the Williams Mausoleum."

"The break in, hmm?" Pen purses his lips as he considers. "I have some information that could prove helpful to you, but do you have to offer in exchange?"

In response, you reach into your pocket and retrieve three bullets of varying sizes. You place them on the table, from tallest to smallest. "These are Cutter Rounds, a bullet of my own design."

Pen picks the tallest up with a pair of fingers. He examines it, turning it this way and that. His eyes linger on the axehead tip. "And what do these do?"

"Cutter Rounds are an armor-piercing round that I developed." You tap the axehead of the smallest. "They chop through armor and leave a deep, wedge-shaped wound in their wake. They're perfect for opening up weak points that you can then take advantage of."

He nods. "Interesting. But, wouldn't their odd shape cause them to lose accuracy? I find it hard to believe that a Cutter Round utilizes rifling properly."

You shrug. "Cutter Rounds use a form of gyromagnetic stabilization. As long as the barrel is long enough, the Cutter Round will hit its target. As long as the person shooting it isn't an awful shot." If the angles weren't messed with, of course. That's the main problem with the Advanced-Cutter Round, their angles are far too harsh for the gyromagnet stabilizers to keep it fully on track.

"Intriguing. How many do you have?"

"As many as I need, really." You respond by fishing out a few magazines for your pistol and slapping them onto the table. He takes them, sliding them under his desk. "Now then, the info?"

"They call themselves the 'Society of Everlasting Gentlemen', or just the Society." Pen begins explaining as he retrieves a photograph from under his desk. The photo is of a blue seal with a golden-yellow circle centered in the middle and surrounded by a dozen eight-pointed stars. "They are bit players — as far as these things go — with the goal of achieving everlasting youth."

"Not an easy thing, but not exactly as challenging as some make it out to be." You note from your own studies. Technically, you yourself could be considered to have a form of long-lasting youth thanks to some chemicals you ingested by accident. Those chemicals boosted your telomeres to higher levels and made it so that you'd be about fifty by the time you really began to show any signs of aging. The problem is, you have very little idea of how you managed to do that as you had been a toddler at the time.

"Easily replicable eternal youth." Pen clarifies as you 'ah' and nod in understanding. There are lots of ways of achieving immortality to varying degrees. Very, very few however are repeatable or replicable at all.

He next pulls out a map and lays it on the table. Colored push pins poke out of the map, marking locations of interest. The map itself seems to be of Illinois, the more rural parts at least. He points to a bright orange pin in the middle of a dark forest, the only one of its color on the map. "They have a facility here, in an old manor, heavily guarded. I don't know what it is they do there, or if it's even relevant to your situation. But it is a lead."

You note the location and consider your next options. Whatever this place is, it's likely heavily guarded.

…it might be time to bring in the rest of the Service. As much as you might hate to admit, you don't have the firepower necessary to raid a facility like that.

What do you do? (No matter what you pick, you will still be involved in a capacity where you can actually do stuff)
[ ] Call in the Service
[ ] Don't call in the Service
[ ] Offer Pen something more if he can get you intel on what sort of defenses the Society have there (Write in an offer)

Spoiler: Rolls

Convincing Pen
(Persuasion Roll DC 35 (Reduced by offer): 94+5=99, success. So close yet so far away)

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: I thought that my days of growing pains were long behind me. That my legs were done feeling the pain. That I had reached the limits of my height.

I was wrong

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST.

 

[I.F. Ister]

The phone rings once before it's picked up and a familiar voice comes on over the line.

"This is Bristle." Senior Handler Laura Bristle answers the phone.

"Special Agent Williams here," you start off, holding your notes at the ready, "and I've got some real shit here."

"Oh?" That's got her attention.

"I've been doing an, uh, independent investigation on a certain thing and it's come to a head."

"An 'independent investigation', huh?" Bristle replies dryly. "Perhaps into something that really should've been brought to the Service's attention?" She sighs over the phone as you wince. "I'm not going to ask too many questions as long as you don't pull anything like this again, alright?"

Better soothe her at least a little bit. "Affirmative."

"Works for me." Laura sighs again, heavier this time. "So let's hear it. What are we looking at here?"

You take a drink of water, to wet your throat before launching into your prepared speech.

~~~~~~~

"How familiar are you with the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis?" You query the crowd of assembled Kill Team Troopers before you. This Kill Team is a different team than KT Captain Daniels', his squad is recovering from a fight with an eldritch horror that had emerged from the lake. The Captain of this team is a Forest Fire Elemental by the name of Woodsmoker, the burning embers of their wooden eyes meet yours as the gathered Troopers listen in.

"It's a rather dangerous book capable of, well, a lot of bullshit." A human with 'Ferguson' written on his armor's nameplate speaks up. "It's also been missing for, what, a hundred and thirty years?" The Combat Sorcerer pushes his glasses back up his spindly nose.

"Correct. But not entirely as the location of the book is known to us." You correct while avoiding the fact that the location wasn't known to the rest of the Service until now. "Or rather, it was known. Past tense, as it's been stolen."

"Stolen by who?" A man asks from the back, his grenadier's armor naming him as 'Adams'.

"A group called the 'Society of Everlasting Gentlemen', or just the Society. They have a lot of money and a lot of resources. We don't know much about them other than that they're not good people and that they have, or had, the book." You flick out a pointer and direct the Kill Team's attention to a descending board. "The mission is to raid a manor in rural Illinois containing a secret facility of the Society's. Primary objective is to secure the book if it is there. Your Secondary objective is to secure any information regarding the book that the Society may have learned. Any copies of the book's pages are to be destroyed by purified fire and the ashes are to be stored in holy water contained in consecrated barrels. Any questions?"

"What are we expecting to go up against and what are the rules of engagement?" A heavy weapons trooper speaks up.

"Good questions. But, unfortunately, we don't have any concrete information on OpFor's front. What is likely there are hired guns of the discrete kind. Outskirts are going to be lightly armed, their job is to deter any strays that wander too close. The facility guards themselves are going to be armed for containment procedures. Expect to see super-science creations as well as a magically resistant Chimera or Abomination. If things get dicey we could be going up against parasitic Demons or worse." You explain before moving onto the next question. "As for the rules of engagement… use your best judgment. If someone's shooting at you, put them down with prejudice. If they're cowering in fear, stun and restrain them. Don't go out of your way to save a prisoner if it means exposing yourself to undue risk, alright?"

The assembled KT Troopers nod, happy that they don't have to throw themselves in front of bullets meant for enemy eggheads.

"Any more questions?" You ask the crowd once more.

Do the Troopers have any more questions or shall you move onto the planning phase?
[ ] Yes, they do
-[ ] Write in (Standard questions rules, so all questions get asked)

[ ] No, they don't

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: Sorry that this is late, I slept in a bit. After the planning section is done I will edit the planning updates together for readability, so they're gonna probably be a bit short.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST as always. Thanks for reading!

 

[I.F. Ister]

You and the Kill Team — of which there are twelve agents — are gathered around a table with a rather crude drawing laid out on the table.

The facility that you're going to be raiding is made of four buildings. The largest is the main house — built in the shape of a large 'L' with three stories — which was converted into a laboratory of sorts. The second largest is a rectangular building with two stories that is used as an 'employee barracks'. The third largest is a garage, which pulls double duty as a storage area. The fourth and final is the security station, which also pulls double duty as a storage bay.

The Kill Team can be split into two teams of six each, which can be further split into four teams of three troopers each. They can also be split into three teams of four each as well.

There are five 'standard' Troopers — or 'S-Troopers' — which come with a rifle and a slew of other tools and weapons to use in combat or other situations. There are two magic Troopers — or 'M-Troopers' — which are trained in a variety of magic. The remaining five Troopers are the four grenadier Troopers — or 'G-Troopers' — who are armed with a display of heavy weapons and the single Captain, who is armed like an S-Trooper.

S-Troopers have assault rifles or carbines with several magazines stashed around their armor — enough to last through two low intensity firefights or one high intensity firefight. They often wear medium ballistic armor, though some are known to wear heavy or light on occasion. They carry a lot of equipment on them, from at least one of every basic grenade type to deployable cover to medifoam — a medical spray that seals up wounds with quickly hardening foam. Some take smaller consumables, such as MSB-10 and the like.

M-Troopers usually use assault rifles or carbines. Their armor tends towards light ballistic, though a rare few wear heavier sets. They carry lots of components on their armor, for spells and the like. M-Troopers typically specialize in combat Sorcery, with a smattering of Wizardry for flavor. They often have potions of various mixtures.

G-Troopers carry LMGs, usually carrying a grenade or rocket launcher as a secondary. They wear heavy armor, sometimes with minor exoskeletal enhancements. They carry explosives like you wouldn't believe.

These loadouts are subject to change based on an individual Trooper's preferences as well as their natural abilities. A Trooper with Super Strength is going to carry more things as well as heavier things. A Trooper with Super Speed or related might choose to wear a lighter loadout to make better use of that.

Spoiler: Map

The green lines are where the guards patrol.
Circles are rough approximations of trees.
Staging Ground is where you launch your raid from. You have two IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicle, think Bradleys) stored there

What is your plan? These plans are loose guidelines for what happens. If you want a more in depth plan then I ask that you write it in.

[ ] Slow and Steady
Advance slowly and carefully through the trees as a group. This is quiet, but very slow.

[ ] Shock and Awe
Hit them hard and hit them fast. Leave them in a state of shock and too rattled to put up any form of resistance. VERY loud but also very quick.

[ ] Write in

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: Short, I know, but it is what it is as writing a really dragged out planning scene holds little appeal to me.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST. If you need more time to plan, then the cut off can be extended further.

If you have any questions, I can answer them

 

[I.F. Ister]

The ride to the staging ground is a silent one. The two IFVs rumble over the nettle-ridden surface of the road, branches crunching under the heavy tires of the eight-wheeled machines. The turrets — 25 mm rotary cannons armed with an array of various, hotswappable rounds — scan the treeline for any hint of an enemy scout watching the road.

Kill Team Woodsmoker is split in half, six Troopers in each armored vehicle. While each IFV can easily carry the entire Kill Team plus a selection of extra personnel, having multiple machines with multiple cannons improves the odds of mission success or — if worst comes to worst — a successful extraction should the mission turn south.

In that situation, the Service will descend like the hammer of god and authorize the deployment of their 'problem solvers'. Each division has a group of problem solvers, unusually powerful or competent individuals that normally serve in other roles and jobs. An example of one of these problem solving individuals is your mentor, Senior Special Agent Damien Rhodes. Another example is KT Captain Daniels, the android who picked you up from the park all those months ago.

If things get really, really bad, then Service High Command will put Article 1 of their founding charter into effect, authorizing the Service to take over the entirety of the federal government as well as all the nation-state governments in order to deal with the threat. And if even that isn't enough, Article 0 gets activated and The Director enters the field.

Article 0 has only ever been put into action once. It takes an event the caliber of the Calamitous Years to even start considering the activation of Article 0 and the deployment of the most powerful man in the world.

Of course, Article 0 isn't going to be activated because of this raid. The most that'll happen is that the problem solvers get to go to work, and that's only if you screw up a ton.

But that doesn't help your racing mind as you silently ride in the IFV. What if things go wrong? What if people die? You've been on adventures before, sure, but those were small group things where the only risk was your parents kicking the bucket. The Troopers around you doing last minute checks of their gear only remind you further of the risks at hand.

"Think there's gonna be any robots?" One of the Troopers, an S-Trooper, nudges his rifle-bearing comrade sitting next to him. "Love me some robots. I can't wait to see how their motors run! What kinda coolant do they have? Do you think they'll use oil-based for their lubricant or some other?"

"Leo, just 'cause you have a weird hard-on for robots does not mean the rest of us do." The other Trooper shakes his helmeted head, the mirrored lenses flashing light.

The apparently named 'Leo' sputters, the wall-mounted straps keeping him from falling off his seat. "I-I do not have a fetsih for robots!" He denies fervently.

"We don't give a shit what you're into, just don't bring Kill Team Daniels into it. Like you always end up doing." Another KT Agent interjects from across the aisle as the Troopers descend into a bickering squabble. While you don't really care for the noise, you do appreciate the welcome distraction from your own internal debate.

Captain Woodsmoker sits next to you, silently watching from her — it turns out that the Forest Fire Elemental is a woman — position by the door. She has her arms crossed as she is wont to do as faint smoke floats from the ever-burning embers atop her flat head.

And then, all of a sudden, you come to a sudden, jerking halt and are nearly flung from your seat. Fortunately, the straps securing you save you from a nasty tumble.

You along with the rest of the Kill Team pile out of the back of the IFV and group up with the other six members.

"Blue Team, with me." Her voice is like a crackling fireplace as the team you rode along with form up on her — their previous lighthearted behaviour replaced by a wall of cold professionalism. "Red Team," the other IFV's team perks up, "sweep left through the woods."

"Special Agent Williams." Woodsmoker's hiss sounds like a burnt out husk of a log, if such a thing were to have a noise. "You may decide which team to follow."

Which team do you attach yourself to?
[ ] Red Team as they move up through the trees
[ ] Blue Team as they move up through the pathway

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: I realized that I didn't give you an opportunity to choose your loadout for the mission, so you can do that now.


[ ] 'Normal' Loadout (Service Pistol, Service Knife, Handcuffs, Investigation Equipment, Lockpicks, Rubber Gloves, Evidence Baggies, One MSB 10 Can, Infragoggles, Cutter Rounds)
+In the car, or IFV in this case: 2 flashbang, prybar, 2 MSB 10, 3 Anti-Plant Spray, tool kit, first-aid kit and candies if allowed.

Or you can pick from here, standard loadout options. (12 Tiny Items-6 Small Items (2 Tiny Items=1 Small Item) and 2 Medium Items. You can carry one Medium-Large Item in your hands)

Spoiler: Equipment Options (Please vote by plan)

Explosives
[ ] AP Grenade (2 Piercing Damage, Strips Armor, Thrown, Small Item)
[ ] Fragmentation Grenade (7 Piercing Damage, Thrown, Small Item)
[ ] Flashbang (Blinds+Deafens, Thrown, Small Item)
[ ] Smoke Grenade (Obscures, Thrown, Small Item)
-[ ] Incense Grenade (Obscures, Holy, Thrown, Small Item)
-[ ] Tear Gas Grenade (Blinds+Chokes+Obscures, Thrown, Small Item)
-[ ] Iron Shavings Grenade (Obscures, Damages Fey, Thrown, Small Item)
[ ] Holy Water Grenade (Holy, Splashes, Thrown, Small Item)
[ ] Breaching Charge (12 Explosion Damage, Opens locked doors/walls/floors/ceilings, Planted, Small Item)

Ranged Weapons
[ ] Service Pistol (3 Piercing Damage, AP 1, Ranged, 1/2 Hands, Small Item)
[ ] Service Revolver (4 Piercing Damage, AP 2, Close-Ranged, 1/2 Hands, Small Item)
[ ] Service Carbine (4 Piercing Damage, AP 2, Repeating 1, Ranged, 2 Hands, Medium Item)
[ ] Service Shotgun (5 Piercing Damage, AP 2, Close-Ranged, 2 Hands, Medium Item)
[ ] Service Rifle (6 Piercing Damage, AP 3, Long-Ranged, Slow-Firing, 2 Hands, Medium-Large Item)
[ ] Service LMG (5 Piercing Damage, AP 2, Repeating 3, Ranged, 2 Hands, Heavy, Medium-Large Item)
[ ] Service SMG (3 Piercing Damage, AP 1, Repeating 2, Ranged, 2 Hands, Medium Item)
[ ] Stake Launcher (2 Piercing Damage, AP 2, Anti-Vampire, Needs Stakes, 2 Hands, Medium Item)

Melee Weapons
[ ] Service Knife (3 Slashing/Stabbing Damage, Melee, Concealable, 1 Hand, Small Item)
[ ] Service Baton (3 Bludgeoning Damage, Melee, Concealable, 1/2 Hands, Small Item)
[ ] CopperCorp Chopper (4 Chopping Damage, AP 1, Melee, 2 Hands, Medium Item)
[ ] Stake (1 Piercing Damage, Anti-Vampire, Melee, 1/2 Hands, Small Item)

Tools
[ ] Handcuffs (Restraining, Anti-Magic, Tiny Item)
[ ] Investigation Equipment (Allows for closer inspection than what may be possible normally, Tiny Item)
[ ] Prybar (Allows for forcing open locks or jammed things, Medium Item)
[ ] Lockpicks (Allows picking of locks, Tiny Item)
[ ] Rubber Gloves (Sterile, Tiny Item)
[ ] Evidence Baggies (Sterile, 6 Uses, Anti-Magic, Small Item)
[ ] Ammo Pouch (Can be spent to reload a gun on a critical fail, Tiny Item)
[ ] Big Ammo Pouch (Can be spent to reload a gun on a critical fail, 3 Uses, Small Item)
[ ] Medpack (Allows for stabilizing wounded people, 2 Uses, Small Item)
[ ] Garlic Rub (Rub on your skin to hide your scent from those that can smell blood, Tiny Item)
[ ] Coma Inducer (Inject this into something to put it into a coma, 1 Use, Tiny Item)
[ ] Cigarettes (Calms your nerves and soothes your mind, +1d4 Mental Health, 10 Uses, Tiny Item)
[ ] Lighter (Lights things on fire, Tiny Item)

Potions
[ ] Vial of Healing (Heals 2d4 Physical Health, 1 Use, Tiny Item)
[ ] Potion of Healing (Heals 2d4 Physical Health, 2 Uses, Small Item)
[ ] Vial of Anti-Minor Poison (Cures most minor poisons, 1 Use, Tiny Item)
[ ] Potion of Anti-Minor Poison (Cures most minor poisons, 2 Uses, Small Item)
[ ] Vial of Dark Vision (Allows you to see in the dark as if it were light, 1 Use, Tiny Item)
[ ] Potion of Dark Vision (Allows you to see in the dark as if it were light, 2 Uses, Small Item)
[ ] De-Fang Potion (A potion that cures Vampirism as long as it hasn't progressed too far, 2 Uses, Small Item)

Personal
[ ] Write in (Pick from your Creations)

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST, thanks for watching!

 

[I.F. Ister]

You elected to go with Red Team as they went up and around through the trees.

You breathed in, held it, and then released it as you slowly crept through the pine trees. It's impossible to avoid every fallen branch or nettle, but that doesn't soothe your nerves as you crunch down on a pile of dry nettles.

The Team Leader, Trooper Max, leads Red Team as you make your way towards the objective. He has his rifle shouldered as he hunches over, stepping quietly through the nettle-covered forest floor.

Red Team has three S-Troopers, one of which is the Team Leader, two G-Troopers, and a sole M-Trooper. As well as you, of course.

A flash of light from up ahead in the darkness of the forest alerts you to the presence on a facility guard. The guard has a flashlight in hand, a basic combat vest, and a heavy pistol on his hefty belt as well as a radio.

The flashlight beam dances through the trees, missing you and the rest of Red Team as you hunker down in time for it to pass over head.

Seeing nothing, the guard turns around and says something into the radio. Trooper Max takes this opportunity and orders another Trooper, Trooper Gary, to take the guard out.

Trooper Gary creeps forward, slinging his assault rifle across his back and drawing his knife. The guard sighs and places the radio back on his belt just as Gary lunges.

The guard doesn't have a chance to react as Gary grabs him by the shoulder, spins him around, and sinks his knife into the hired man's neck. All in one smooth motion, like he'd practiced it dozens of times before.

The guard sinks to the floor, his suddenly weak knees no longer supporting him as he is gently laid on the nettle-scattered ground. Trooper Gary helped him down, cradling him as he carefully set the guard to his final rest on the cold surface of an Illinoisian forest floor.

You move forwards, carefully as always. While moving, you find and take out another pair of guards.

Soon, you reach the edge of the forest and the clearing that contains the security station, your goal for this bit of the mission. Take out the security and you'll have relatively easy access to the rest of the facility.

Trooper Max crouches before a fallen tree and pulls out his communicator. "This is Red Team. We are in position. On your command."

"Roger that, Red Team." Captain Woodsmoker's burnt voice hisses through the communicator. "We encountered a strange thing, but took it out without much diffi- wait." You could hear a pin drop in the silence that follows. And then you do hear something: a wet crunch on the other end of the line. "Take it down!" Woodsmoker shouts after a beat as the line cuts out.

The thunderous sounds of gunshots rumbles in from the direction of Blue Team. Bullets fly in bursts of light from beyond the trees.

Red Team has a choice to make: divert to support Blue Team or continue the operation.
[ ] Divert
[ ] Continue

Spoiler: Rolls

Gary vs Guard
63+20=83
35-10=25
Gary Wins

Did something go wrong for Blue Team? 5, well, shit

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: Not super happy with this one, nor this section in general.

I was watching the Expanse, which is why this is late

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST

 

[I.F. Ister]

"This is Red Team, we're moving to assist." Trooper Max declares into the communicator as he hefts his rifle. Nothing comes over the other side, the KT Troopers too absorbed in combat to communicate back.

Following the rest of Red Team, you divert from the Security Station and head towards the Garage.

The trees pass by in a blur as you hustle through the woods. The gunfire grows louder in your ears as you draw closer and closer to the battling agents of the Service.

The first thing you see as you clear the trees is a line of deployed cover and Captain Woodsmoker engaged in melee combat with a flesh-grafted abomination.

One Trooper sat behind the wall of ceramometallic material. His ballistic plated back pressed against the wall as he unclasped the blue-gray armor on his calf, a can of medifoam on the ground next to him as he revealed the half-dollar-sized bullet wound along his muscular calf. Filling it up with foam, he straps the armor paneling back on, grabs his rifle, and starts sending slugs towards the garage.

The garage shoots back, facility guards firing from concealed positions in the building and the surrounding trees. A large StarCorp-brand pulsar turret sits on the roof, seemingly deployed from a hatch in the garage. However, its controls sit empty.

A balaclava-clad corpse sits slumped in the turret seat. Smoke billows from a dinner plate sized hole in the dead man's chest, the edges of the wound melted and molten from the heat of the blast.

The abomination that Woodsmoker's battling is a massive thing. Standing at about eight feet high, its shoulders are at least two feet thick each. Its skin looks stitched together, mismatched colors only add to the unsettling aura emanating from the creature. Its limbs look mismatched, like they were made by grafting multiple limbs together in unnatural ways. It glares from a head made of at least three faces, its sunken eye sockets are filled with dozens of eyeballs each.

All in all, it's an absolutely stellar piece of the Frankensteinien Process that leaves you slightly envious.

Woodsmoker side steps one of the abomination's meaty, barrel-sized fists and coats her right arm with a shroud of fire. She steps forward, twisting on her hip and driving the lance of smoky fire into the monstrosity's armpit. It buckles, stumbling back with a spine-tingling scream of fear as its skin darkens from the scorching heat.

Unfortunately, that's all it does as the fire seems to have little other effect. Other than scaring the creature, that is.

Woodsmoker frowns, a piece of her wooden face splintered from a stray bullet. Her armor seems damaged and warped, like its taken heavy hits and kept on trucking. Hits likely from the abomination before her.

She advances, laying blow after flaming blow into the beast. The smoke trailing from her head grows heavier and thicker. The once-thin cloud is now a veritable bank of smog rolling out from her 'skull'.

The creature backs away, the heat warning it away. For now, that is. How long until it realizes that the fire can't hurt it meaningfully is anyones' guess.

Red Team takes a firing stance from the treeline. A grenadier lobs a choke-gas grenade at the fortifications, but a flash of red lightning zaps the grenade from existence midair. The smell of burnt ozone fills your nostrils as you frown, staring at the glowing red orb embedded above the garage door — the source of the anti-ordinance energy blasts. Taking that out would allow the Kill Team to smoke out the facility guards. Blue Team seems to have realized that as well, if the bullet holes in the brick of the garage surrounding it are anything to go off of.

The concrete ground of the garage lot is stained with blood, the defenders' blood. While a few Troopers have been wounded in the firefight, like the agent who sealed his wound up, none are suffering from anything serious.

For the defenders, however, it can't be said that it's the same. Several of the facility guards lay dead and dying on the cold concrete floor, well-placed shots had torn through their comparatively flimsy armor with ease. The deaths in the defensive line leaving some positions open, perhaps you could sneak through?

That pulsar turret could certainly put the hurt on that abomination, but it would require getting to it in the first place. And that is certainly easier said than done, what with it being on the roof and all.

If you could take out that anti-ordinance energy caster, then the grenadiers could definitely take out the entrenched defenders.

If, if, if, just a whole lot of ifs. The only question is, what are you going to do?

[ ] Write in a battle plan

There are about 7–9 guards still standing and combat capable, but they're entrenched pretty well in scattered positions around the garage and trees.

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: I was starting to feel some burnout, which you may have picked up on in my writing. While it isn't gone now, I am feeling better about it after writing this update.

If you need assistance with the plan, I can help out.

Voting will be closed tomorrow at 5 PM CST, thanks for consuming.

 

[I.F. Ister]

Bullets flew overhead, their ricochets flashes of light in the darkness of the forest floor. You huddled by a thick tree stump, gun in hand as you peered towards the garage. The defensive line that had been formed by the guards of the facility was holding, for a given definition of 'holding' any ways.

They must be paid lots and lots of money to do this. Or perhaps they've been lobotomized and turned into fleshy guard meat puppets for the facility to use. Either way, they're still shooting back with very real bullets.

The longer you dally here, the longer the facility has to secure the hatches and shore up its defenses. Which you cannot allow. But how to deny them this?

Your eyes dance across the battlefield as bullets light up the darkness like fireflies, searching for that opening you saw earlier.

There! By that fallen tree! A Trooper had just nailed a guard and splattered the tree with their blood, marking it in your sight.

From there, you can make your way to the emitter and take it out. After that, you can climb up to the roof of the garage and commandeer the pulsar turret.

With a plan in mind, you breathe in and breathe out.

"I'm taking out that emitter." You inform Trooper Max, who was crouched next to you.

He looks from you to the emitter before looking back with a nod. "Got it." He taps the shoulder of a grenadier and points down the ways. "We'll cover you."

"Thanks." You whisper back as the pair of Troopers spring up. The flare of their gun barrels lights up the darkness as you race across the open field, a hand covering your head.

The guards keep their heads down, allowing you to make it to the garage without trouble. You slam into the garage door, moving too fast to slow down and having to rely on the hard door to arrest your movement.

It hurts, obviously, but you are alive!

Now then, to take out that emitter.

You point your gun up at the red orb embedded above the garage door and, after a moment of aiming, pull the trigger. The orb shatters in a shower of red sparks and crystalized glass as the bullet absolutely demolishes the delicate internal workings encased inside.

One problem down, one left to go.

As the Kill Team arcs grenades into the defensive line, you begin to climb the garage.

You struggle your way up, using the bullet holes in the brick wall as handholds to hoist yourself up.

But you make it up without too much trouble. Well, if you classify trouble as bullets being shot at you, then yes, you didn't have much trouble at all.

Regardless, you push the warm body of the guard from the seat of the pulsar turret and climb on. The controls of the turret seem relatively simple with just a joystick with triggers and some targeting panels. Easy enough to understand.

You raise your eyebrows as you test the controls, noting the sensitivity of the operation sticks as you center the crosshairs on the back of the flesh-grafted abomination.

Thumbing the power-up button, the energy coils contained within the barrel start spinning up and fill your ears with a repeating whir. Pale blue light peeks through the gaps in the barrel as the whir reaches a crescendo.

You pull the trigger with a deceptively quiet click and the turret bucks under you. The sound of three blindingly bright blue energy diamonds hissing through the air rocks your eardrums as the trio crater into the broad back of the abomination.

Flesh warps and bubbles as the heat of the miniature pulsar stars flash boils through the monstrosity. It roars, a thunderous cry of pain tearing through its throat as its left arm falls off and slaps the ground with a meaty whap. The shoulder and part of the chest it was connected to now nothing more than a warm pink mist.

It gropes at its missing limb, confusion clear on its face. It rears back as Woodsmoker approaches, falling on its ass and scrambling away. Its far too long legs carry it away from the battle.

With the abomination gone, the Kill Team clean up the rest of the facility guards without any trouble at all.

You pat the humming pulsar turret's power cell as you collapse into the chair. It's over, phew.

Hang on, just how does the pulsar turret work in the first place? Because it not only has to power the generation of three miniature pulsar stars — which is a process all on its own — but it also has to shoot them out with at least a certain degree of accuracy. You reckon that it's something to do with magnets, but fucking magnets, how do they work?

The battery, however, is definitely understandable. Probably. You'll just stash this battery for later study. It would be pretty nice to get a better battery than what you're working with right now. Double-stacked batteries are nice and all, but they are expensive!

Regardless

With the Garage secure, do you want to search it or just torch it?
[ ] Search it
[ ] Torch it and move on

After you finish with the Garage, where to next?
[ ] Security
[ ] Guest House/Employee Barracks
[ ] Main House/Facility
[ ] After the abomination!

Spoiler: Rolls

Stealth Roll DC 45: 87, success

Athletics Roll DC 70: 72, success, if barely

Combat (Mounted Weapon) Roll DC 45: 70, success

Abomination's Resolve Roll DC 75: 49, failure

Passing Idea Roll DC 50,70,100: 81, double success
Gained Idea: Magnetic Energy Projection
Gained Research Topic: Better Batteries

~~~~~~~

GM's Note: I'm not gonna lie to you, I completely blanked on writing for, like, several hours. Total War called to me and I am but a humble servant. But still, apologies for being late.

Voting will be called tomorrow at 5 PM CST.

I am visiting a friend tomorrow, so keep that in mind.