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Cyberpunk Session 15

A crumbling set of steps leading uphill a dark forest. A Torii gate straddles the path

The Torii gate straddling the crumbling path

Following on immediately from the previous sessionWe see there are many cobwebs in the trees and Shadow spots something off to the side of the path - something with many legs and purple and which disappeared almost as soon as Shadow spotted it. Shadow calls up Wakiya to see if she can see anything through the scope of her sniper rifle but there is nothing visible. As they do that Tremen watches the other side of the path and Nameraka examines the Torii in more detail. The ropes and strings visible on the Torii look very old. He touches the ropes with his cyberarm but all this shows is that the ropes are strong and relucant to move (quickly falling back into position).

A gully with a Torii in front of the view. Behind the Torii the gully leads to another Torii with a gated cave entrance. The whole scene dimly lit with wan sunlight finding its way into the gully

The gully leading to a cave entrance

Continuing up the path through the Torii we soon pass into a gully at the top of the hill. A second Torii is at the start of the gully which leads to a third Torii behind which is a gated cave entrance. The gate itself is not locked, but is chained and the chain closed with an intricate padlock.

Wakiya examines the lock and notes that it is very very cold and drops the lock which clangs back against the gate. Nameraka then has a go at picking the lock (using his cyberarm and hand to hold the lock). After 30 minutes or so he succeeds and the gate swings open. While this is happening Shadow again feels as if something is watching. Again he asks Wakiya to scan with her scope and again she spots nothing¹.

We cautiously enter the cave. While not claustrophobic we need to proceed in single file with Shadow leading followed by Wakiya, Tremen, Ricky, Nameraka and Spooky bringing up the rear. The daylight only goes a few metres into the caves and we are forced to rely on flashlights for illumination. It is cold inside, colder than you would expect for an underground cave though not as cold as the padlock. The passage leads us on a wide downwards spiral with shallow steps and the passage becomes more regular². After what feels like twenty minutes we reach a crossroads. To the left we hear no sound, unlike to the right where we can definitely hear the sound of running water (in addition the right hand passage looks to be a more roughly hewn passage than any of the other routes. Ahead the passage continues downwards.

As we contemplate our choices Spooky feels a faint breath on her neck. She brushes away the touch and her hand comes back with a cobweb (which results in her paranoia spiking at this point). Nameraka confirms that there is nothing behind her. Spooky puts the web into an evidence pack for later examination. The passageways not not seem to have any cobwebs. One of Spooky's theories is that she has had a tracking device attached but her thorough search doesn't find anything.

Shadow leads us down the left hand passage. This passage seems to be spiralling back upwards and after twenty minutes or so we reach a balcony overlooking a large cavern. Some sconces spring into life as we enter the balcony casting a dim blue light. Spooky is sure she saw something something on the floor of the cavern (it seemed to move in front of a light source at the base of the cavern) but, yet again, there is nothing visible using Wakiya's sniper scope.

We return to the crossroads and cross overe into the right hand passage. After fifteen minutes we come to a midsized flow of water (move than a stream but less than a river). There is a narrow path along side the water with the sound of water over rocks some way further along.

Initial View of the cavern

This seeming a quite risky route we again return to the crossroads and turn right down the straightahead path. This continues to descend in a wide spiral and it is getting noticably colder. After another fifteen minutes or so it opens out into a large cavern. There is the sound of water falling from above and the floor of the cavern is covered in a mist. High above are two dim blue lights illuminating a balcony. This would seem to be the balcony we were on earlier and its plausible that the water falling from the ceiling is from the flowing water spotted in the right hand passage. The cavern floor has been leveled to remove the bigger rocks and obstructions. Visible at the back of the cavern is a small raised area (about two metres by one metre by one metres) with steps leading up to it. There are two dim blue lights on the edges of the raised area and, at the back of the raised area is an archway. Both Wakiya and Nameraka really feel the cold, particularly those parts which held the lock on the gateway (even Nameraka's cyberarm is aching).

Moving closer to the archway we first see strange runes on the arch and then there is a loud crackling sound and the view through archway changes from the back wall of the cavern to a view of the interior of a small ice cave. The surface of the view is rippling making it obvious that the ice cave is NOT here as such. Nameraka (being the bravest of us) puts its cyberarm to the image and it does, indeed, seem to be a portal and he moves through the portal (we can see him through the portal on the other side). Tremen and Shadow go through next followed by the rest of the party. Once through the portal Nameraka and Wakiya feeling of cold gets much worse. There is, however, an orange light ahead.

A view from an ice view overloking a fog filled plateau. A building is (just) visible on a hill poking through the mist. The sun is directly ahead but looks eclipsed.

The view from the ice cave

We round a corner and we're in a cave above a plateau. The view ahead is of a cold landscape. There is a building on one of the hills ahead visible ahead and the sun in the distance is being eclipsed. There is no net or wireless access available here and Tremen takes as many pictures as possible on his mobile phone.

We head back and are very relieved to see that the portal is still operational and still shows the cavern and we return through it (taking more picture to prove (even only to ourselves) that it is a portal). We head back through the passageways back to gated entrance. The position of the gate has moved (it is slightly more open). Nameraka closes the gate, replaces the chain and (using the intricate padlock) locks it.

We reckon it's been about four to five hours and we return down the hill. As we do so Shadow again feels like we're being watched - this time she also feels a sense of hatred from whatever is watching.

We return to the farm and our van where there is no change or signs of interference. Nameraka and Wakiya's sense of feeling cold dissipates.

We return to Section 9. Tremen reports to Lady Kitsune while Shadow and Wakiya attend to cleaning and checking their weaponary (in Wakiya's case to check the calibration of her sniper snope).

On his return Tremen is obviously somewhat shaken and says that (a) we need that building which was visible from the ice cavern and (b) he'll explain more once out at the farm and beyond most forms of survelliance and observation. The team start gathering the equipment and supplies needed to do the investigation while surviving the extreme cold of the location beyond the portal.

Footnotes

After two very low perception rolls Wakiya is also convinced that the scope needs to be recalibrated. ↩
I.e., less of a natural cave but hewn from the rock ↩

D&D Session 6

Fortenbrass

After Klark is killed, the party investigates the various crates which contain food & weapons. Tremen begins moving the supplies to our cart outside.
I tend to the monkey who seems excited and willingly takes food from me. I than open the cage to allow it its freedom, as soon as I open the gage it bounces onto my shoulder before heading off behind a carte on the far side. I follow and discover it digging and recovering a fez which it proceeds to put on its head.
Silanne tends to the Wolves and starts organising the release of the pack outside in the woods. Silanne senses something that aligns to appreciation / thanks, as the wolves cautiously.
A discussion takes place about what to do about the dam and it is decided that it should be destroyed, so a plan is agreed upon using rope tied to the key wedges which we will pull once we have safely exited the cave. Tremen checks that the cart is on high ground the likely direction of flow of the released water from the dam.
Bluebell attempts to communicate and befriend the monkey and find out any information about previous owner or where he came from. The monkey informs Bluebell his name is Fortenbrass.
Dwarf Grundrem who gave us the initial quest is Fortenbrass friend.
The Party then sets off back to the village & returns the supplies to the town general store, the villagers cheer the party on our return appreciating the return of their supplies. Tremen attends to the administration tasks and chasing payment from the town clerk for completion of tasks. He also confirms free room & board plus meals at the inn, which the party are great full.
Silanne after resting informs the party they will be discreetly watching the Sleeping Giant and heads off. Everything seems quiet, people come and go during the evening. Later, Silanne explores the trail & walls to the right taken by some of the exiting patrons from the Sleeping giant, & notices the trail appears to get busier later in the evening.
The following morning around 6 the party starts to assemble & take breakfast as it is served, Cromagon takes a stroll in the town after breakfast.
Sildar (rescued from the dungeon) joins the party at the tavern and coveys his thanks for his rescue. He mentions to Tremen a map of the mine that Grundem & his brother had discovered, and it was the map the goblins were after. Sildar mentions the Redbrams & perhaps they are involved in stealing the map.
Tremen notices that Silanne isn’’t around and suggest it might be an idea to gather the party, so myself & Crom take a stroll, doing a loop but nothing is observed about Silanne’s whereabouts. Bluebell joins myself & Crom as we do loop to the south, but again we see no signs of Silanne.
Silanne eventually turns up at the inn a bit later, and a discussion takes place about dealing with the Redbrams. Silanne relays their last night observations. Tremen is reluctant to confront the Redbrams, without any further evidence, and then proceeds to talk to the town clerk to see what his position is on the goings on of the Redbrams & the sleeping giant.

Traveller Session 11

Game Date: 185-1105
Location: Debarre

Once all are aboard & the cargo secured, the launch returns to spaceport taking approximately 8 hrs for the return, Tharbin keeps a watch full eye on the bear for the duration of the trip back. Earl makes a rough landing next to the Vagabond, scraping the perimeter fence.

On arrival at the space port, Cyndariel briefs Earl as captain, that an irate captain Grimstone, whose ship was attempting to jump out of system, is claiming compensation as he blames the issues on us, as all the troubles coincided with our arrival. On cue the captain returns and engages in a heated argument with Earl, who stands his ground and points out that the phenonium was not caused by us and in fact we are currently engaged in trying to sort it out.

Tharbin & Earl return to the launch and head back to the site, after loading the white box discreetly. Whilst Chase is checked over by Cyndariel and administered pain killers then instructed to rest in quarters.

Cyndariel tends to the bear's nourishment over the coming weeks as we wait for something to happen, as well as feeding Kimbley using the ship rations.

A youngish looking lady wearing practical clothing and carrying a toolbox and assorted tools. She is walking down a path through some trees.

Kalinda

Kalinda (human) an agent of the sentinel’s arrives a few weeks later and is confronted by Masuyo, who insists on a briefing on what the cargo / box is. The agent eventually discloses her patron is an Ancient and the box is from another ancient, and in fact the war is not over between the ancients, just gone quiet. The agent & Masuyo oversee the destruction of the box which lifts the communications blockade. After the completion of this task a discussion takes place as Kalinda’s patrons would like to keep this event quiet and out of the imperium’s spotlight.

A plan is hatched and agreed by all present, which involves some diversion tactics and cover story. A location with a hunting lodge has been chosen to be set up as the dummy location of the signal origins, before it is conveniently destroyed by rock/meteor, which will be arranged by Kalinda’s ship.

D&D Session 5

The party proceeds further into the cave I take the left turning as it is dimly lit, the cave system seems to have numerous twists, turns & back tracks as we continue to explore deeper.

A female elf in a cave complex with some friendly wolves

Silanne with the wolves

I see Tharbin & Bluebell up ahead. Silanne continues to look after the wolves we found and helps to calm and feed them whilst slackening off their chains to make it easier for them to move around and reach the food and to lie down, meanwhile Bluebell joins us and casts Longstrider on Tremen, As Tharbin approaches a largish cavern he crouches to have a peek around the corner, and finds he is close to a Goblin to the west but the east appears to be clear, Cromagon shoots at the goblin standing on the bridge spotted by Tarqual earlier, dropping it. Tremen then moves into the western passage that Tharbin took but is immediately shooed away as he is carrying a lantern fouling up Tharbin's Dark Vision. We all hear the wolves that Silanne is with, calling out and get several responses from deeper into the cave, but she is making friends with them and keeping them relatively calm. I for the time being hold position just in case something attempts to sneak up on us. Bluebell moves into the cave system to back us up and heads into the western passage to help Tharbin, but before she does this she casts Goodberries and hands them out with instructions on how to use them. Silanne them signals Fiorana to pass on a message to whole team to Please not kill any wolves you encounter. Fiorana reminds me that the Wolves we encountered at the entrance are part of a bigger pack and are friendly to our needs.

Tremen moves further into the caves to the east passed the prone goblin on the bridge which has been bitten by another wolf that has appeared ahead of us and I move up to the rest of the group heading east. Silanne leaves more food for the wolves and rejoins the team in searching the caves. As we proceed further we encounter more goblins and begin to attack successfully taking most of them down in various ways and we also find that wolves are helping us. Bluebell moves in near Tharbin and casts Ice Knife and kills one Goblin and damages another. Tharbin also kills a Goblin and relays to those that can hear him that he has found a possible human prisoner and seven potential enemies, two of whom are now down, there is also a passageway possibly leading east to the bridge.

A large muscular goblin holding a male male prisoner

The begining of the negotiation

Fiorana manages to find a Goblin to target but struggles to take it down. As the fights continue, a wolf charges past Tharbin and almost bites the head of the next Goblin killing it. Crom is heard off in the distance, as Fiorana is heard shouting for assistance. As the clash and clangs of combat are heard, Tharbin narrowly misses getting hit. A large Goblin finally takes a hold of the human and demands that Tharbin stops fighting or he will kill the human, Tharbin is reluctant but the Goblin say Kill Klarg, let us go, we let him go pointing to the human. We stay here till job done, Tharbin agrees so they let the human go but Tharbin demands that he be fed, cleaned up and healed before we return, the Goblin agrees. So the four of them (Tharbin, Bluebell, Silanne and Tarqual) all back out of the room. I move up to the northeast tunnel and come up against a makeshift dam with water trickling out. I notice some wooden wedges placed in the dam, clearly key to holding the dam in place. Crom is head shouting some profanities at Klark. The rest of the party cross the bridge to join the up with those who encountered Klarg and his crew of Goblins, Cromagon took a bad hit from Klarg almost killing him but he made a last ditch effort and succeds with a killing blow, the rest of the Goblins drop their weapons and run away. Crom is heard shouting a warning Is there anybody who wants to be introduced to Skull Splitter, as he dispatches another goblin with his great axe. After the this the party reassembles & Trem tends to Crom's wounds.

Silanne tends to the wolf who came to our aid & takes the rest of the wolves back to the main area with the restrained wolves, and we find a lot of equipment everywhere and a small cage with a monkey in it.

Cyberpunk Session 14

Following on from the events of the previous session, Spooky informs Tremen that even with her best efforts she could only get a few more details. SHe was able to reconnect to the Hilton's security system and ascertained the following:

Mr. Smith - a well dressed gentleman with a non-descript

The computer claims this is an image of Mr. Smith but who can know if it actually captured a proper image...

Room 205 was in the name of a Mr. Smith
An attempt to find security footage of this Mr. Smith shows a man walking from the lobby to the room
There is no indication that he left through the front door
From the security cameras the room is empty and looks unused, the only unusual aspect is the open window to the balcony
Whenever Tremen tries to look at the face of Mr. Smith his eyes are always drawn away from it as if Tremen's body was trying to reject seeing it

Just as Spooky finishes showing Tremen the security footage there is a scream from the main room of the Warehouse - it is at this point when (as prevously recorded) Nameraka's arm slipped onto the black mirror. He immediately collapses and his left arm is missing as if sliced off by a very sharp knife. There is a pool of rust coloured melted ice on the floor between him and the black mirror.

Wakiya and Tharbin go to assist Nameraka (Tharbin leaving the small office) with Tharbin managing to stabilise Nameraka to at least the point where Nameraka isn't going to die. It's apparent that Nameraka's arm has been subjected to extreme cold (at least as cold as dry ice or, more likely, liquid nitrogen levels of extreme cold).

Tremen concludes that the Hilton needs to visit as soon as possible and he and Spooky borrow a car from the forensics team and head straight there.

The suspicious tanker truck

Just as Spooky finishes showing Trem

Meanwhile outside Shadow continues examines the trucks. One of them is a tanker and tapping the side of the tanker with a metal pole discovers that lower portion of the tanker does not contain same as the top half of the tanker. Opening the hatches at the top reveals that the top half is indeed fuel. Careful examination of the pipes and valves of the bottom of the tanker reveals that one of the valves is connected to the bottom half of the tanker. With the help of Ricky this vale is cranked open with some difficulty. Once open a viscous liquid comes out, splashing them both.

Tremen and Spooky arrive at the Hilton and, with the help of the manager check out the contents of Room 205. It's just a normal hotel room, but there is a slight scuff mark on the railing of the balcony. The balcony looks out over a park (so there won't be any CCTV that will get a good view of the balcony). Checking the adjacent rooms (particularly those above and below) doesn't reveal anything else unusual and even checking the AV landing pad on the roof only reveals that the only flights were the normal airport shuttle runs.

The rest of the team, after getting Nameraka rushed to hospital maneuver the mirror back into its crate and then the crate into our van.

We all then head back to base¹ where we notice Lady Kitsune's department of the crate. One of her associates (who probably has a full body prosthetic) examines it. He is seen (by Shadow) to slap a piece of paper on the crate, but when his hand lifts from the spot there is no such piece of paper.

Tremen makes an in-person report to Lady Kitsune's department.

Two days later

Nameraka rejoins us - his arm has been replaced with a cybernetic arm and hand.

Research has revealed the following:

The substance in the tanker is blood, but not human nor of any known animal
The ash of the Zombie is just the pulped remains of a human and does not have the remains of any cyberware
The adversion effect of the footage of Mr. Smith applies to any member of team (i.e. none of us can concentrate on his face. Interestingly this effect applies even to the still images from the security footage). However we do all agree on his clothing and general appearance

One of Lady Kitsune's associates delivers a manila envelope containing real paper and explains that Lady Kitsune wants us to investigate. The paper gives us an address of a farm and notes that by tracing the tanker movements via street cameras etc. this farm was the most recently (if 20 days ago) location which the tanker visited.

Cows in the foreground with farm buildings in the middle distance and rolling hills in the background

Suspiciously mutant cows at Inagawa Kokusai Farm

The farm, Inagawa Kokusai Farm, is a beef cattle ranch run by AI and owned by the agri-business CoAg.

We head out to the farm. From the road we see nothing unusual and it is obviously run by an AI. We are let in. There are two main building and several grain silos. The buildings are a bunkhouse (used by maintenance personnel and the evidence is that it was last used 10-15 days ago) and a machine room holding equipment and supplies for repairs.

The Torii gate straddling the crumbling path

Nameraka climbs one of the silo and spots a set of steps heading up into the woods behind the farm. We all head up these crumbling, but recently used, steps which lead to a Torii.

Footnotes

This includes getting the tanker back to base ↩

Traveller Session 10

Game Date: 184-1105
Location: Debarre

A map of the signal site. The party started in an open space at the bottom of the map. The map has a river running north to south. A building both looking modern and ancient is at the top right of the map. The rest of the map is covered in trees. The overall look is dark red due to the perpetual twilight of this location

The site of the radio jamming

184-1105: Reminder: Cyndariel (and Kimbley) are back on the Vagabonds Hope, everybody else is at the landing site of the Launch. The heavy radio interference is overwhelming so there is no radio communication between the Launch and/or characters and/or (in particular) the Vagabonds Hope.

We start heading towards the ruins with our lights on as it is permanently twilight due to planet being tidally locked. Masuyo finds a strange door, the building looks ancient, very high tech but ancient none the less. I approach a window and I see nothing unusual, the room is fairly empty but there are some cubicle like objects in the corners of the room around 50-100 cm tall. The door is closed with no obvious opening mechanism, Masuyo readies her weapon gives the door a push and surprisingly it opens, (strange for something this high tech???).

Chase hears something coming from the south, there is a bear in the tree close to him, (Dream?). to my left is a river not too deep and relatively swift flow from north to south, Junebug moves closer to the window and confirms that aside from the strange items -which are 75cm tall- it is empty, she opens the window and hears an electrical hum which she lets me know about. The bear quickly approaches Chase and attacks knocking him out. Tharbin takes a shot at the bear and misses but it does distract the bear from Chase. Hearing the shot Junebug moves into position and also takes a shot at the bear and scores a minor hit causing a small amount of damage but the bear is still moving. I ready my autopistol and take a shot if nothing else to cause confusion and distract the bear more knowing my pistol won't do much if any damage due to the armoured hide, I do score a hit but as expected it only causes minor damage but I do make a hasty retreat and leave the guys with the hunting rifles to their work. Tharbin and Junebug continue shooting at the bear with the tranquilliser darts whilst continually moving to avoid taking too much damage although the bear is very focused on Junebug, Tharbin misses most of his shots but Junebug is successful in all of hers she takes a small amount of damage from the bear but her armour takes most of the punishment and finally it collapses due to the tranquilliser. Tharbin shouts for me to head back to the launch to get the restraints we brought for the bear and Chase after receiving some emergency first aid from Masuyo and has regained consciousness returns very slowly and carefully to the Launch to recuperate until he can get back to Cyndariel on the "Hope". After collecting the restraints I head back and see Chase making his way gingerly back to the Launch, I give a pat on the shoulder gently as he passes and a smile as I carry on my way.

A winged creature mainly in white but with black bat-like wings. Its eyes and mouth are red. The creature looks smooth, even mechanical rather than organic

A Sentinel of the signal site

As I am making progress with my task Masuyo and Junebug make their way into the ruins to explore, Masuyo is in the lead and she enters a room to find what appear to be bones lying on the floor, upon closer inspection they are in fact cybernetic parts, these are of similar technology to the wall high tech and antiquated. The size is overall taller than standard humanoid at around 7 feet tall. Whilst they are exploring Tharbin and I restrain the bear and drag it back to the Launch. Masuyo and Junebug continue their exploration and find more doors which are extremely sensitive to physical touch, even after all this time the doors work very well. There are strange lights inside the are some form of construct like old fashioned torches, no fire, but they give off a faint light, in the room there is a filing cabinet like object with no obvious doors or drawers or opening of any sort, upon closer examination it reminds Masuyo of the white box we have aboard the "Hope". She eventually finds the room Junebug and I saw through the window and hears the strange hum but disregards the rooms as there is no signs of danger or anything else of interest, as she moves further into the ruins she finds a hole of some kind in the floor but there is no way back up so she leaves this for now and continues to the door instead. in this room there appears to be two of the cybernetic beings, complete and apparently standing as sentinels, they are not moving, at this point she calls off further exploration and retreats to the entrance to wait for Tharbin and I to return to the ruins. We arrive back to find both Junebug and Masuyo waiting for us, "Problem?" I ask, Masuyo fill us in on what they have found so far and motions us to follow and we head back to the room she discovered, here Junebug takes the lead and throws a small pebble from her pocket into the room, no reaction from the "Sentinels", this time she throws her dagger into the room it causes a small mark on the floor and there is a slight twitch from one of the "Sentinels", she relays this information back to us and we all hear "Language identified, why are you here?". Junebug tells the "voice why we are here and asks about the comms blackout, The "Voice" explains that they have initiated a quarantine due to contraband being present, can you identify the contraband for us? "Yes", elaborate please, "It is a foreign probe and it is not permitted to go any further". Junebug asks permission to collect her knife from inside the room which is granted.

Meanwhile back at the Star port there is a commotion coming from outside which disturbs Cyndariel and i seems to be coming from the ship next to ours, so she goes to the window to have a look and an angry mob is heading straight for the "Hope". Banging comes from the door with a loud demand to OPEN UP, having no other choice and being somewhat flustered she lets them in and asks "How can I help you gentlemen?" The Captain of the other ship starts shouting demands for compensation for lost fuel and a collapsed jump bubble. Cyndariel stumbles through an explanation that she is only the medic on board and has no authority to authorise something like this, but lets him know that he can talk to Earl (the Captain?) when he gets back from his expedition, this mollifies the other Captain somewhat for the time being.

Back at the ruins Masuyo continues to have a conversation with the "Voice" asking if the comms jamming is coming from this facility and if so can it be turned off, the answer to both is "Yes, but only if we leave the probe here". We start to record everything, and I whisper to Tharbin to leave his bug here while he returns to the "Hope" with the Launch, Chase and Earl to retrieve the contraband (white box). "Where do we have to deliver it?" "The pit" is the response, the hole Masuyo found we assume. She explains that we will have to return to our ship for retrieval and are informed that this is acceptable.

Masuyo asks permission to enter the room form which the "Voice is issuing" and gets a somewhat surprised affirmative, Junebug stays on guard for us as Masuyo continues her conversation with the "Voice" I go off to investigate the cybernetic parts that are strewn around.

Masuyo discovers that the "Voice" wants to quarantine the contraband and has made a request for assistance to investigate the probe, but it will take a while for this assistance to arrive (at least two weeks). Can the comms for our party and ship only be unjammed to help us expedite the process of retrieving the probe and delivering it faster? "Not possible". Knowing that we have to report on everything that has occurred here Masuyo is concerned for the welfare of the facility and the "Voice" and asks if it can defend itself? response "You will not leave until contraband has been examined"

P.S I hope you all don't mind but I have taken to shortening the name of our ship to the "Hope" to save me a bit of time, and don't all great ships deserve a nickname.

Cyberpunk Session 13

A smartly dressed zombie with a green glowing chest

The green thing.

The voice doesn't seem to be coming from any loudspeakers (partially because no loudspeakers are visible). We continue to check out the warehouse with Tremen and Wakiya in the back office (which is full of stuff that's basically junk).

However as spooky moves towards the office she spots of tthe corpses of the previously downed hostile. However two things strike her as odd: (1) The corpse is standing up and looking at Spooky and (2) its cyberware is glowing green!

Meanwhile Tharbin examines the three prisoners to ascertain their status - which is: Alive, not bleeding but not in good condition. Tharbin tends to them providing reassurance and ensuring that a paramedic team is its way to assist these victims.

The green glowing thing now giggles and spits a green acid blob/dart at Spooky hitting her and causing her status to change to Seriously Wounded. Hearing Spooky yell Ricky moves towards Spooky and sees the green glowing human near Spooky. Spooky pops a shot at the green thing and misses (at which it giggles again).

Nameraka, Shadow, Tharbin and Wakiya move toward the sounds of trouble - Spooky takes the opportunity to bravely run away, but not before taking a second pop shot, this time succeeding in hitting. In response the green thing just stands there, turns a little and spits at Ricky. Tharbin takes a pot shot and misses.

Tremen, seeing Wakia moving to assist in the fight and wanting to ensure that there's no surprises remaining in the small office complex that Wakiya and Tremen were checking out opens the one remaining unopened door in that part of the warehouse. Behind the door is ... a smaller office - in better condition¹ with a running desktop computer.

The team (including Tremen) converge on the green thing start to concentrate fire on it. Tharbin is the next to gain a hit. He notices that its skin seems to be acting similar to combat armour (despite not being obviously anything other than skin). His next shot also hits and causes actual damage. Wakiya also scores a hit.

Now that the thing is concentrating on Ricky, Spooky takes the time to try to recognise the green thing's cyberwear, but doesn't succeed.

More shots pour into the green thing until Shadow gets into a position where he can see the green thing. He takes a single pot shot at it mortally wounding it with that single shot. The body collapses to the floor and the glow disappears. The body then disintegrates into a pile of mush. What appeared to be cyberwear now just looks like bones. Realising that it's beyond what he can quickly examine Tharbin calls back to Section 9 for a forensics team.

Following this excitement we resume (again) our exploration of the warehouse. Nameraka discovers a locked crate suspiciously just the right size to hold a coffin.

Back in the small inner office Tremen examines the desk while calling for Spooky to examine the computer. In the desk are a set of outbound delivery notes. However these have been completed in a simplistic, even childish way - not even a slapdash delivery driver would find these notes useful.

The ambulance for the victims arrives and the paramedics are escorted in by Shadow and Ricky and Tremen assist the paramedics.

This makes room for Spooky and Tharbin to enter the small inner office. The screen of the computer shows a small red dot and as soon as Spooky touches the computer it shut downs. As the shutdown was triggered remotely Spooky is able to quickly jack in (with Tharbin as backup) and follow the ghost line of the connection. It is immediately apparent to Spooky that she needs all her defences but shes traces the ghost line to the Night City Hilton's security gate. This she easily bypasses and tracks the ghost line to Room 205 before the ghost line disappears and Spooky is attacked by the logo of Neuf mères. Her defences hold and, as the connection is broken, she hears a giggle.

Wakiya's investigates some more crates double checking the finding of wallets, purses and watches (both men's and women's watches).

Ricky helps the paramedics with the three victims. As a result he learns that the victims would, most likely, have died in a couple of days without our intervention.

Outside Shadow spots that only two of the parked trucks have been used recently. A red truck and yellow one as it happens².

Spooky picks the lock on the large crate found by Nameraka. Within it is a layer of packing about 5cm deep. Under that is a wooden shipping crate. The crate looks relatively old (not decrepit just old). Wakiya and Nameraka start to maneuver the wooden crate out of its outer container while Spooky watches on. As this is going on Tharbin and Tremen are assisting the forensics team which arrived shortly after thge paramedic team. Ricky is returning back to the warehouse as the paramedics depart and Shadow is investigating the most recently used trucks.

Using crowbars Wakiya and Nameraka attempt to remove the top of the wooden box. Unfortunately Nameraka fumbles on his side of the box and his left hand and arm slip inside of the box. His hand and arm hit something very cold and as Nameraka withdraws his arm it is covered in rime and ice. He falls to the ground in agony.

Inside the wooden crate is what would be a large full length mirror if it wasn't for the fact that the surface is black not reflective....

Footnotes

Note that it's still a mess though. ↩
This matches the childish writings on the delivery notes that Tremen found earlier ↩

D&D Session 4

Some debate about the plan¹ to burn down The Sleeping Giant inn is pursued and the party takes note of Silanne's wise guidance of being cautious, until we have more information. The talk is upsetting to hear from the party, any innocent life lost is not something that I could align myself to. I am relieved the party have seen sense.

The party assembles for breakfast next morning, Tremen receives a person who pulls up with the cart outside the inn, it appears to be loaded with some provisions. Tharbin eyes the keg of ale on the cart and ensures it is secured for the trip, some raised eyebrows from the party are ignored by Tharbin.

After a short time preparing, the party head back down to the trail before heading up the path to the north.

Some time later we spot Silanne who signals to us, Tremen directs the cart to a spot on level ground. Silanne then heads off to scout further up the path as we make camp, waiting for information before proceeding into possible danger.

A female halfing rogue examing a body on the path.

Fiorana cautiously examines a body on the path

A small cave entrance with a small stream leading from it

The cave entrance (or, at least, one intepretation of it)

Silanne appears a short time later and signals the party to proceed in formation, and follow him. Fiorana examines a body on the path wearing a red cloak. The wounds don't appear normal, poison is ruled out, magic is suspected by Fiorana. The party than continues down the path in formation. An hour later Silanne pauses and examines the ground, then is seen advancing more cautiously, we assume some tracks have been spotted. The party eventually arrive at a stream that is exiting a cave. Silanne lets loose with a bolt towards the right bank of the river, we hear a roar, the rest of the party move up the river to cross to the other bank, quickly some goblins are engaged & dispatched. Tharbin, Silanne & Fiorana enter the cave, some wolves snarling are heard somewhere inside. Silanne moves ahead towards the wolves, a short moment later some whimpering is heard and the snarling dissipates.

Tharbin proceeds further into the cave and takes a turn to the left - a possible fork up ahead on the path, I proceed up to the right and spot a goblin patrolling a bridge fording the stream.

Footnotes

DJV: Tremen is completely unaware of this plan and its discussion ↩

Traveller Session 9

Game Date: 117-1105
Location: Flammarion, then Debarre

A seriously overweaponed streamlined fighter in orbit over Flammarion. It would appear that the designer is seriously worried about this vehicle being chased.

Vessel spotted over Flammarion. Probably some noble's overengineered streamlined fighter (it certainly doesn't look all that practical!)

GM⇒Fiorana

176-1105, (Preparations to depart): I have been given a post-refit report on the Vagabonds Hope. While the navy didn't have time to do much with the decor they did renew all the engineering electronics and computer systems (including the military sensor package). These *should* all be in tip-top condition but the report does warn me that the Vagabonds Hope's first flight after refit should be treated as a shake-down cruise to identify any remaining (or new) problems.

GM⇒Chase

Extra information gleaned from the drinks shared with the Naval grunts on Flammarion, they were surprised that their training regimen has remained the same for the past several years, despite the slow and steady increase in sightings of both Zhodani and Sword World vessels in local group of non aligned systems.

Masuyo graciously purchases me an auto-pistol as I only have my static blade, Cyndariel buys some psionic inhibiting drug for the crew and is testing it in her Lab to see if it can be replicated, Junebug and Tharbin both purchase a hunting rifle each so we can hunt the bears on Debarre. The bears are armoured and we want to try and capture one alive

We prepare to depart after loading the mails and cargo for Debarre, we successfully take off, and Tharbin successfully plots our jump co-ordinates for when we reach 100 diameters to perform the jump. I ask Junebug to give me some lessons in using my new my new auto-pistol, she agrees and we set up a practice range in the common area.

Six days into the Jump and I am carrying out a routine check on our power systems, all is fine except for a marginally higher than normal reading, but as we are on our shake-down cruise this may be the new normal for our renewed systems. I decide to monitor it just to be sure.

GM⇒Chase

In your dream you’re desperately trying to fiddle with the sensor controls – the results are all off the scale. Insight the sensor readings upon entering the Debarre System align with the dream scenario.

An armoured two ton bear on a path in a forest

A Debarrean Bear

GM⇒Earl

In your dream tonight you're in a forest, feeling worried – Is that a bear? Or worse?

Both Chase and Earl tell us they have experienced strange dreams again and I exclaim "Is this another one of your prophetic dreams?"

We plan to land and take some time away from the ship and the damn white box!

Our last day in Jump is uneventful and proceeding normally until...

The sensors (civilian) are overwhelmed with an unusually high amount of static, comms are out and we cannot contact any other ships in the system nor the Star port. The guys in the cockpit try and use the new military sensors to try and pick the origin of the sensory overload, Tharbin finally succeeds in getting the location, it is coming from an island to the north of the Star port. There are a couple of other ships in the system and at the Star port according to our sensors, one of the ships at 100 diameters out is currently stationary, we have also established that this does not appear to a normal type of static. We decide to go ahead and make for the Star port and land in an empty bay, Tharbin and Masuyo prepare to disembark and talk to Star port officials to find out what the hell is going on, the rest stay aboard for the time being.

There is a Star port official waiting impatiently outside our ship and he does not appear to be happy by our sudden appearance, "What the hell is going on?" Masuyo explains what happened as we exited our Jump in system and asks if there is a problem from the surface, "I was hoping you could tell us, it only happened when you guys showed up."... "We thought it was you that was causing it and would ask you turn it off but you seem to be as in the dark as us." They both then explain that we have managed to locate the source of the static and he seems very surprised, we can't get any signals out or in all of our comms are currently jammed, our sensors cant pick anything up because they are not working, everything is offline for the moment. Masuyo and Tharbin threaten to leave with the intended mails and cargo for the planet as they are not happy with the Star port officials attitude, "NO, no that won't be necessary," as his demeanour changes to a more friendly one, he explains that it has been some time since they have had any mail or fresh cargo delivered (we get paid 60,000 credits). As the signal is new and not natural, but only seems to have started literally seconds after we entered the system it may have something to do with the white box aboard our ship??? They ask after the stationary ship we passed on the way in and it is a Safari class ship of hunters who are on their way out of system on the way to Iderate after hunting bears planet side.

Tharbin and Masuyo offer to investigate the strange signal in return the Star port will refuel our ship as payment, it is agreed but the official persists in stating that the island is just that a forested and uninhabited (except for the wildlife) island why would any kind of signal be coming from it? Earl heads down to prepare the launch for the trip.

We all get ready to depart after a sharing of the conversation and the plan of action, we equip armour and weapons as well as our breathing masks and any other relevant equipment needed, for me this is my Laptop and toolkit, We fly north toward the island and fly around a couple of times to take readings and take note of any visual anomalies. We find a suitable landing site in the south west corner of the island. Our flyover reveal some kind of ruin and only helps to confirm that this is location of the strange signal. We set the ship down at the chosen landing site.

Cyberpunk Session 12

Three members of the team entering the warehouse

Three members of the team enter the office part of the warehouse (they'd like to think they're entering cautiously, but you can judge for yourself....)

Exploring the location of the warehouse we cautiously move into its surrounding courtyard. As we approach the loading bays at the back of the warehouse we become quickly aware of hostiles (gunshots are quite effective at that kind of notification). Shadowdancer get a hit on one of the hostiles, apparently downing him (this hostile had earlier shot at Tremen). Meanwhile Spooky has spotted a set of wires leading into the building and is able to ascertain that the data connection is not being used for significant amounts of data traffic (i.e., no major uploads or downloads are in progress).

Tremen enters the warehouse (via a door next to the set of wires and, for his trouble has to duck behind a forklift truck as several shots are sent in his direction. Shadowdancer, still outside the loading bays, continues exchanging fire with more hostiles, downing one of the hostiles, but getting badly wounded in the process. Tharbin gets to Shadowdancer (while still under fire) and performs first aid on Shadowdancer and enabling Shadowdancer to sort out the one remaining hostile amongst the trucks and vehicles in the loading bays. Nameraka assists in this part of the firefight (although Shadowdancer was concerned that Nameraka's help could be seen as being limited to acting as Mobile Cover!)

Ricky and Wakiya also move into the Warehouse and also come under fire, but from a different hostile than the one firing on Tremen.

Outside a final hostile is engaged by Nameraka and Shadowdancer, this hostile seems to be a somewhat different to the others that been encountered so far. Nameraka successfully wounds this new hostile.

Inside the Warehouse, Ricky and Wakiya deal with their hostile while Tremen's hostile moves off deeper into the Warehouse after being wounded.

The different hostile engaged by Nameraka and Shadowdancer moves into the Warehouse, but is brought down soon after (the hostile is not only followed by Nameraka and Shadowdancer, but is also engaged by Rikcy and Wakiya).

At this point, the warehouse is mostly secured (the hostile wounded by Tremen seems to have scarpered), so we can begin a (still cautious) investigation of it.

The warehouse seems to be a packing operation of some kind (there are workstations along side a conveyor belt leading to a some kind of packing station). It does look like what you would expect for that kind of commercial operation.

Ricky reports the discovery of a box about the size of a suit case tucked away in a corner that contains valuables. These include watches, jewellery, and several wallets none of which have any money but one does contain an ID card (someone was careless when emptying it). The card belongs to an Amanda Orwell, it states that she was a purchasing manager for Neuf mères.

Tharbin finds a door secured with an electronic lock and calls over Spooky to open it. Inside is a small room with three people. They are barely alive. Some food and an overflowing bucket are also in the room.

As we continue checking the people, the offices, the crates (one of which has a collection of firearms), a deep resonating voice (more felt than heard) says:

That won't do. That won't do at all. Prey should know what it is, although more quick bodies for the fire is always a bonus.