09/08/2024 -- Operation Desert Storm

Knewidi 35th, 715AR

STARRING: Andreas, Bee, Corania, Journeyman, Karina, Margaux, Radovan, Seth, Storm, Talisman (Fidelis), Thomas

Andreas is Commander, Seth is Marshall, Bee is Lorekeeper, Storm is Quartermaster, Fidelis is Spymaster
“Alright, what we do know, Dark Sun is a destroyed and battered dimension– Low Magic doesn't have effect on you but on the dimension itself, people there hate low magic with a passion. I don’t think we have any low magic users here–”
- Bee says she is kind of low magic. But doesn’t really use it. She promises to be careful.
- Andreas says coming into contact with the dimension will likely harm us in some way, we do have Seth who can help a little bit– but the aim is to be as fast as possible.
Andreas does Sky School training, Fidelis wants to train with Corania, Seth wants to train Spirit School and check on his wolf, Thomas wants to train the Land School.
Bee heads to go see Karina.
- Bee picks up all successes on a roll. She also drops her rat off with Radovan/Charon.
Storm doesn’t have anything to do.
Spymaster takes the Training boon and levels up Luger. All are sent to provision for Emeralds.
- 9D6 – 1 Emerald
- We can’t go anywhere. It is now an impromptu Downtime.
Andreas rolls 1D6 – 6
- 2D20 – 29 (NAT 20)
- There is a silver lining, which is such a great thing. Ryan gets some options, and gets to choose one for a greatly reduced cost.
  - Genre of random event that you want?
    - Permanent Upgrade
  - Brigade Building Authority (2 Supply 1 Emerald 1BP) – Extra BP every session
  - Relic Forge (3 Supply 1BP) – +1 Relic per mission
- Brigade Building Authority is chosen.
Quartermaster funds the building of Lucky 8’s (-2BP), and the Theatre (-2BP), an additional one is put into Lucky 8’s (-1BP)
Commander spends 4 Intel.
- 1: On a scale of 1-10 how dangerous is this mission?
  - It’s growing. Right now it is an 8. It can go up or down depending on how much Low Magic is coming.
- 2: What skillset would be useful to bring on this mission?
  - Someone who can track magic and navigate through a desert. You will likely need to find Cordell when you’re there.
- 3: What rumors are circulating in Widowstone Keep?
  - There are rumors that the leadership of the Brigade is fighting with each other, and that it appears that the old regime has fallen. The heroes of the Brigade are supporting the new group of people taking over. They see it as a good power shift.
- 4: Where is Varuz?
  - 1D6 – 6
  - Right now it is thought that Varuz is moving around the Cosmic Stack, his last known location was False Eden.
- Spymaster: What is the weakness of Yvonne?
  - Her biggest weakness is– she is used to projecting herself. If you find the actual body, and she can’t run away, she doesn’t have a lot of defenses there. She has powerful magic, but Yvonne is a glass canon. More often than not she acts through proxies.
Andreas supposes he is going to go talk to Caerwyn. Caerwyn Joe that is. Bee hasn’t met him, so she will tag along. Fidelis also wants to go. Seth is doing his own thing. Thomas tags along.
- As we approach, his farm has been shifted to Widowstone. He appears to be relaxing, tending to his corn.
- “Hey Joe, how’s it going!”
  - “Hargh! Do I know you?”
- “Andreas. We met?”
  - “Prove it.”
- “I ate some of your corn. You shared your corn with us.”
  - “How did it taste?”
- “It tasted fantastic.”
  - “That. Is. What an imposter Andreas would say!”
- “Well, I guess an imposter Andreas would be saying that to gain your trust– what, you think I’ve been replaced by the shadow government?”
  - He deeply inhales, glaring at Andreas with suspicion.
- “I don’t think I have been–but…”
  - “I see… then… then I have a test. And if you are able to complete this test, then I will know that you are actually Andreas. And not a doppelganger sent to destroy me.”
- “Okay. What is this test.”
  - He reaches into a back pocket and pulls out some pliers. He puts them in his mouth, and rips out a tooth. He takes the tooth out and presents it to Andreas.
  - “This has a cyanide capsule in it. Bite it. If you die, you’re an imposter. If you live, you’re the real Andreas. Because the real Andreas would never die to cyanide.”
- Andreas has no idea if it is real. He tries to see if Fidelis knows if there is cyanide in here. He has no idea
- Fidelis fake knocks the cyanide capsule out and places it in Andreas’ hand. He hands the real tooth back.
  - “What! Bite the tooth!”
- With one success, you would have known this was a regular tooth pulled out with pliers. You crunch through it. You take a moment.
  - “Andreas I knew it was you from the start!”
- “I had today scheduled out but that fell through so I decided to see if you needed any help on your farm. So uh, what do you need?”
  - He points at some buckets. He wants them stacked. There were only three.
  - “Man. I thought I’d have more time. I’m not good at delineating tasks. Ah! Fill the buckets with paint and paint the house!”
    - Fidelis inquires what color he wants the house.
  - “What colors are there Journeyman… there’s white… and black… and also red.”
    - “Do you like yellow? For the corn?”
  - “...who paints their house yellow? With all those crazy ideas out of the way, there’s white… oh no we’ve already said white… okay, I think… paint the house a nice gold color.”
- Bee asks him what his favorite adventure was. One time he traveled to a place filled with strange creatures. He ran across a mob–a group!–they brought him to an ancient fortress. And he became their God.
- “Did you know, Doctors, on their seventh anniversary, a little fairy comes and places a hoard of smaller doctors in the big doctor.”
  - Bee asks if you can talk to the smaller doctors. Joe has no idea, he isn’t a doctor. She promises to come back when she is 7 and let him know.
- “Some say the Rat King, when you ask it a question, it tells you the answer. This rat king, anything it touches can become cheese. It is said to be the greatest cook in all of the Cosmic Stack. This Rat King, from what I’ve heard, also rides around on a chariot made of ice. These myths… they are as old as perhaps time itself. It is said when lightning strikes the Rat King, the sky gets a scar. Mhm mhm. It’s said when the Rat King fought in a war it killed ten thousand people with a crossbow, and then it started firing it. It’s said that tornadoes are actually the Rat King, sneezing. According to Old Man Journeyman, once, when he was traveling the underworld and traveling the River of Gehenna, he learned that the undead tell stories of the Rat King around the campfire. Some say that the Rat King ate a High God!”
  - Bee asks which High God.
- “ Well… it's a tricky question. It could be the High God Sound, but it's unknown. Perhaps that is why they choose to squeak. But really who can say. There are other myths, that the rats– they burrowed into their home dimension and ate it up. Ate the roots of the dimension and then it fell. As the dimension fell, the rats were spread across the Cosmic Stack. Extra dimensional invaders! Soon, one day, the rats will eat all the Cosmic Stack. It's okay, I fought three rats just today. I will stop them.”
- He pulls a dead rat out of his pocket.
Bee heads off to tell Radovan about the Rat King.
Storm, Seth, Thomas, is there anything you wish to do?
Seth wants to see Lavatera. At the moment she is still recovering in the hospital. She raises an eyebrow as he enters.
- “Well isn’t this a surprise? Come to check in on me? And you think that I needed your help? That I could not recover on my own?”
  - “Of course you don’t need my help, you are more than capable. Just wanted you to have a friendly face to come check on you, see if you need anything.”
- “Right answer. I suppose all I can do at the moment is wait. Eventually I will need some help, I have a ritual I need to complete in the coming days. In the event that I can’t stand, I will need some help. And… I will make it worth your while, and anyone else who decides to come along.”
- “I do have a question though. You took a liking to me, but I don’t know why.”
  - “I just like the way you help people. You’re just a good person. And you’re very beautiful.”
- “Of course, everyone knows I’m beautiful. Most people wouldn’t say I’m very helpful though…”
  - “You are. You’ve helped the Brigade in so many ways and I don't know if people have noticed it.”
- “Well perhaps it is a good thing, I can’t let the world think I am going soft.”
- “You don’t have to go so soon though, right? It’s terribly boring in here and I could… perhaps tolerate your presence for a bit longer. Just to hear what is… going on in the Brigade.”
  - SPIRIT – 2 Successes
  - As Seth is talking, Lavatera is closely paying attention to whatever he talks about. As you begin to speak, you don’t pick up on it right away, but when you’re leaving– Lavatera would do just about anything to get you to stay, without directly saying so. Something about what you said to her took her aback.
Storm heads to find Bee. He probably finds her as she is leaving Journeyman.
- “Um. I’m sorry about not getting to this sooner. I’ve been surprisingly busy. I probably should have cut out time to talk to you earlier, but, anyway. Um. A lot has happened since the last time we spoke. I wanted to apologize for that. The argument that we had. It wasn’t right of me to not listen to you. Or try and listen to your concerns. I was so… bent on trying to be good and do the right thing, I didn’t take into consideration the fact that you all were also trying to do the right thing. And I didn’t listen to your arguments or give you the chance to… allow myself to listen to your arguments about the Impure– and them being people. And I’m sure that was hurtful, and it may have made you feel like we didn’t see you as a normal person. Or still like a danger to us. And no one in the Brigade should feel like that. Or be in a position to feel that your safety here, and your acceptance is conditional. You’ve done more than enough to build the trust that you have, and that everyone believes that you are a good person, and that you are not a threat. Or anything of the sort.”
  - Bee isn’t sure if she has heard that before.
- “I want to learn about the Impure, especially from you. I want to listen to what you have to say, I think you have a valid point– the Impure being human still. And if there is a way to cure them then… I believe Zey is working on a cure. Um… I know– there is a lot going on. But. If you would prefer it, I will not harm– well, I won’t kill the Impure. So that they have a chance at being human later on.”
  - Bee understands that they have to fight, but being respectful of the Impure is important.
- “I think there is something to trying to be the better person. If you ever change your mind, just say the word.”
- Storm asks how Manatee is doing, and she rambles about her rat. Bee asks after Magion, he seems to be doing as well as he can be.
- Bee gives Storm a hug.
Andreas and Thomas begin dad-mode and attempt to fix stuff up in camp. People have broken weapons or tents, some others need miscellaneous help. Andreas aims to take over some shifts, and Thomas goes to help repair things,
- Andreas PHYS– 4
- Thomas PHYS – 4
- Both of you begin to help as you can around the Brigade. People are thankful. There is certainly a growing ease as you walk around and help fix things. Thomas helped patch a tent, turning to leave, and a hundred yards away– just watching– is the Emerald Knight.
  - Thomas gives a nod in that direction, but he focuses on his tasks.
- The Knight leaves.
Fidelis heads to train with Corania. Corania attempts to help you learn the worth of gold.
- MENTAL – 1
- As you are getting things down, going over the signs and symbols, you finally begin to understand the intricacies. As you’re feeling more confident, Corania looks to you.
  - “If I gave you a bar of gold right now, what would you do with it?”
    - “I suppose I’d go see if anyone really needs it? Probably go to Yamp first.”
  - “Hm. And why would you go to Yamp?”
    - “A bar of gold is… a lot, and it seems to me it would be better for using to build than currency. And… he can make use of it.”
  - “Why would Yamp make better use of it? I’m curious.”
    - “I haven’t met with Yamp before. But. He makes– he builds things. Creates weapons and anything else the Brigade needs from what I understand. As the Blacksmith I assume that would be useful to him.”
  - “So you wish to take the gold to a blacksmith, right?”
    - “I had been under the impression that he had taken on more eclectic projects since joining the Brigade, but if he couldn’t or didn’t want to use it I would… find someone who would?”
  - “I believe the Blacksmith of the camp is a woman by the name Marie Dumont.”
    - “He is the Artificer is he not?”
  - “Artificer, yes. Blacksmith he is not.”
  - “And… Yamp is good, what he would do with the gold is good? Is that your understanding?”
    - “He has been a loyal part of the Brigade at least as long as I’ve been here–”
  - “Is loyalty good?”
    - “In my opinion when it is the right group–”
  - “How do we know when it is the right group or the wrong group?”
    - “I don’t know. I suppose we wouldn’t know until we– I don't know.”
  - “So then you don’t know if my church is the right group?”
    - “I especially didn’t when Tatnai was teaching me, but I hope it is. I believe it is. I have faith that it is, and from what you’ve shown me so far I can believe that it is.”
  - “Is good so ephemeral? Is kindness so abstract?”
    - “I don’t think it should be.”
  - “Then why do you act like it is so far beyond your grasp?”
- Talis gained 5 points.
Seth wants to train his wolf. The wolf has absolutely destroyed his room in the past few days, and is generally a menace. How would you like to train it?
- Go to the training grounds and show him my moves.
- SPIRIT CHECK – 2
- The wolf takes away that it cannot shit in the building. Anywhere else…? Well…
- Andreas comes across Seth at the training grounds with a large wolf.
  - “Seth, where did you find a wolf?”
    - “Right outside of camp. I’m training him.”
  - “That’s a big animal.”
  - “Does the wolf have a name?”
    - “Wolfgang.”
  - Andreas has a shocked expression before putting his head in his hands.
  - “Seth, what is my last name.”
    - “Andreas.”
  - “No, that's my first name.”
    - “Andreas the Second?”
- The wolf walks over and begins chewing on Andreas’ leg. Seth kicks him.
  - -1HP for animal cruelty.
Andreas heads back to the Therapy Tent and tells Margaux that Seth got a wolf.
- “Yeah we have to teach him how to be a pet owner I think.”
  - Margaux cackles after being told about his name. She says he should be honored.
Bee heads to see Radovan. He smiles as she walks in.
- “Ah. Yes. The God of Rats. I know of them. I have seen them. They reside in Vermatos. My old prison.”
  - Bee shows off the book that Karina gave her, and talks about her task. She wants to interview Radovan! She asks what being a Child of Sin means to him.
- “It means being free, while being hunted. We are the foxes in the forest, I suppose.”
Storm wants to speak with Andreas in the therapy tent. He looks a little lost as he walks through the entrance.
- “Ah! Hello Storm, come in, have a seat.”
- “I heard about you taking control of the Ard Magos with Magions imprisonment, so I wanted to see you, and I wanted to brainstorm some ideas for how to get the Brigade together.”
+1 LVL UP