Into the Volturnian Desert

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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Terl Obar » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:17 am

"Well, I'm the one for the physical secruity systems I believe (OOC: Tech level 2). If you guys can get me in close, I'll point them out and deactivate them. Beyond that, I'm a pilot and have a bit of proficency with a blaster.

"And I have to agree a bit with Kahn, the pirates made it personal when they jumped the Serena Dawn and stranded us down here. The only way off this rock seems to be through them so at this point it's no holds barred. I say let's head back to the Kurabanda village and then hit the pirate outpost and get on with it."

Dalmar will start gathering his gear and monitoring the storm as best he can to figure out when it is time to get underway back to the village.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:36 pm

Kahn issued the daily ration of water (4 liters despite the implementation of conservation measures to everyone for their personaly water bag and vita-salt tabs. He thought of trying to advocate for waiting till night fall to start back but everyone seemed restless to get out of the ship and get moving.

Grekka ran a check of the robot trouble shooting for problems before they set out.

Rigel, Kriss and Gideon loosely took point and discussed stealth and evasion techniques for a time before mounting heat of the Volturnus sun silenced them.

Grekka fell in as tail end charlie preferring to keep an eye on J.J. but also to watch the robot for signs of trouble before it really broke down.

The rest of the group bunched together in the middle with the robot.

Just past noon both Kahn a Grekka spoke up into the silence. Grekka's antennae and noticed a change in pitch in the low levels of noise coming from the robot and she wanted to run a maintenance check but Kahn had been watching the young kurabunga who he had not given a vita-salt pill to and who was showing signs of real suffering from the heat. The robot was unloaded While Grekka attended to it and a couple scraps of parachute was improvised into a shelter for party members with the most obvious signs of heat exhaustion. Kahn dosed Keno with 2 extra liters of water and he began to revive. Gideon was the furthest away from the improvised camp when he hear it, shortly after Kriss, Rigel and Grekka lifted their heads centimeters higher straining to hear: helicpoter rotars and they were growing louder.

The copter was a hundred meter of the sand and it seemed the pilot jinked a little as he overflew the party, perhaps as surprised as they were at the encounter. The copter circled around and came slashing back at them with assault rifle and gyrojet rifle armed individuals leaning out the side doors and firing at the camp in a high speed strafing run. Rounds impacted everywhere as people dived to get out of the way. The copter flew off about 1000 meters and hovered for a few minutes. It then approached slowly to about 100 meters from the camp and something small was tossed out the door that fell like a rock to the ground. It then rotated and accelerated to the north by northeast.

Kahn looked around the party for obvious injuries then ran to the water carrier. It had been made for them by the kurabunga and was not super sturdy and it stood no chance as resisting bullets from an autorifle on burst fire. Their water supply was soaking into the hot Volturnian sand. All they had now was about 2 liters in each of their personal water carriers.

The the object that was dropped was recovered it turned out to be an empty autorifle clip wrapped in a plasti-paper note. The note read, "We know who you are and you wont get off Volturnus alive."

Kahn snorted, "Well I guess that's the the final word on whether the pirates have made this personal."

"We have a day and a half of travel still to reach the shard grass and about a day through that till we reach the village and only two litters of water a piece. This isn't good, the pirates may not have to kill us as the planet just may. All I can say is to press on through the day and through the night and hope the next dawn finds us at the shard grass. If we reach the shard grass perhaps a kurabunga hang glider will spot us and send help. Unless we find some other source of water?"
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby corkman » Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:27 pm

"Press on and hope for the best."
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Once Far Off » Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:48 pm

"Agreed"
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:37 pm

Kahn began to act like a bit of a nanny cautioning people to slow down on their water. No one snapped at him over it but frustration was clearly running high.

Night fall was a welcome respite from the heat and eased the need for liquid.

On a halt not long after sundown Kahn addressed the group, "This was the sort of contingency I had envisioned when I required everyone to pack a liter of saline solution back on the Serena Dawn. I had worried that it would be needed during an accident to replace extreme fluid loss but int his case you will need to drink it. It will be salty but not too salty as the salinity matches that of your blood or fluids. We'll hold off on another vitasalt tab as that along with this saline solution will increase thrist."

Since J.J. and Keno had never been issued a liter of saline Kahn gave his to the two of them his liter of saline. When J.J. objected he simply said, "Yazira will provide, we are called to a greater purpose then dying in the desert."
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:35 pm

The night trudged on. People became drowsy and lethargic. At some point Keno was being carried by the robot and Kahn was hanging on to it to keep up.

Around dawn the shard grass was nowhere in sight, Rigel, Kriss and Gideon conferred concerning their coordinates, one was certain they should be seeing the shard grass and another was certain that they had strayed off course. After a minute Kriss asked, "Where is Kahn and Dalmar?"

"They're missing!"

Exhaustion, thirst, lethargy sapped even a major reaction of concern from them. They were feeling the effects of dehydration and a forced march, the sun was coming up and they were seemingly trapped in a sea of sand.

"Press on or go back for the missing?"

No one answered for simple lack of energy. Gideon pointed in a random direction and said, "That way."

And the party trudged on into the blazing furnace.

People dropped and some wandered off the track then dropped. J.J. , determined to last to the end of his endurance clung to the robot with one hand and when his feet gave out he was dragged by meters his hand not letting go.

The light of the sun blazed till everything was dark.

Rigel roused in a hide tent as a tent flap sifted in the wind and let light spill across his face. Nearby Kriss was stirring as well.

"Hey, where are we?"

"Dunno, I had weird dreams of tentacled monsters out of some horror story being in my mind and questioning me."

"Yeah I had that dream to. Doesn't seem possible that we should have the same dream."

Peaking out of the tent flap, Kriss flinched back, "It wasn't a dream, we're surrounded by tentacled monsters."

Rigel looked, "Are we dead and condemned to hell to be tormented by ... what was the name? Coothlu, Kootulu..."

"I think you're looking for the name cthulu and I couldn't tell you for sure if we're dead I'm not the priest. Do yazirian's believe in a Hell."

"Where is everyone else?"

"Dunno, but there are lots of other tents."

Casting about the tent they discovered a jug of water and a drinking bowl but greedily they gulped down the jug but then realized they were not as thirsty as they remembered.

[Elsewhere a similar scene repeats itself: Grekka and Dalmar awake together in a tent, the two yazirians awake in a tent and Keno and J.J. awake in a tent.]
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Once Far Off » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:00 pm

"Well, if they wanted us dead, they would not have brought us to a tent." Rigel thought aloud. His mind was racing trying to figure out what to make of their situation. Between the heat, and the dehydration, he wasn't sure this wasn't some dream. "Better make sure" he muttered to himself and staggered out of the tent to whatever end.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:31 am

The sense of dream like quality did not improve when Rigel stepped out of the tent the glare of the sunlight forced him to shield his eyes with his hand. He had a sense of movement happening near him and when he could properly focus he quipped to Kriss behind him, "Yep, I'm dreaming."

Before him stood a dinosaur like creature that looked a lot like a velociraptor, though perhaps not as dangerous. The loping therapod was saddled and ridden by one of the tentacled monster creatures but now Rigel realized this rider looked more like an octopus (not that Rigel had seen an actual octopus in his life beyond cartoon pictures when he was learning his alphabet). The octopoid rider was equipped with stone tipped and metal spears, axes and knives. He did not overtly threaten Rigel but instead placed a water bag on the end of a spear and extended it to Rigel.

Rigel accepted the water bag. The octopoid rider then pointed out a handful of other tents with his spear before back walking his mount to a gap between two tents. Rigel noticed other riders set at similar posts between tents and began to realized that perhaps the octopoids were watching that he did not leave the open central area.

Kriss exited the tent with and began checking his equipment; everything was there except his everflame.
Rigel did the same and realized that pocket tool was missing.

Crossing to one of the tents that had been pointed out they discover other party members which they revived with water from jugs left in the tents.

In short order everyone had revived and assembled in the "square" between the tents. North of the octopoid village not more than a few kilometers away was rocky out crops that became rocky hills then rocky mountains further away. There were dozens of tents and beyond the tents seemed to be a herd of the loping therapod dino creature. Scores of octopoids began to crowd the square's edge and watch the party. They seemed to be communicating via tentacle motions.

Others in the party found that they were each missing one small item from their equipment:
Dalmar: a hand axe
Kahn: pocket tool
Gideon: toxy rad gauge
Gekka: flashlight
J.J. : a knife

The largest tent bordering the square had its sides lifted on poles to allow the breeze to blow through. Its floor was carpeted with skins and pillows made from skins. Five octopoids with more ornamentation than any other in the village sat touching each other and waving their limbs.

Rigel commented to the party, "Did anyone else notice that some of their weapons were made from metal that may have come from a starship's hull and some are made from worked stone?"

Dalmar responded, "Saw that, and I can tell you they didn't craft those items with stone tools. You'd need a tech kit to work some of those items. These creatures may be more sophisticated then they look or they may trade with the pirates for metal weapons."
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby corkman » Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:25 pm

When Kriss had awakened from his slumber of exhaustion and dehydration, he exits his tent and sees that there is another alien race (other than the Kurabanda) on this planet and they (the group) happened upon their camp while trying to get back to the shard fields or, they (Octopoids) found the group. He decides to do a quick inspection of his equipment and notices that his everflame has been taken. "A strange item to take when I have weapons and other gear cooler than that," he thought to himself. Kriss gathers his remaining gear and weapons and checks on the other members of the group to see if they're all right.

"I don't get it. Of all of the things they could've taken, they took my everflame."

IT was weird that they had different types of weapons, meaning stone and metal. They looked like a primitive race and the stone weapons fit their look and perhaps the items that were missing intrigued them. Kriss looks over to Delmar after his take, "Maybe the people we were sent here to look for or other people the pirates stranded here helped them build the metal weapons. I'm no expert but, I think that if they were friendly with the pirates, we might be tied up and waiting for our violent deaths! Hell, we could just ask or ask our furry little friend if he knows?"
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:03 pm

Keeno shakes his head and in his steadily improving Pan Gal says, "Only the %&*# [word incomprehensible] work with the Sky Demons. On this one thing, the Kurabunga and the Ul-mor agree, Sky Demons bad."

"Ul-mor?"

Keeno points at the octopoids, "Stories say that many many many seasons ago Ul-mor use to raid the People and steal %$#&* [a different incomprehensible word] but then the gods caused the shard grass to grow around the forest to keep the Ul-mor away. Since that time the people and the Ul-Mor avoid each other but if ever a hunter land his glider beyond the shard grass and the Ul-Mor catch him he no resist when they take %$#&* [the second incomprehensible word] and they let him go. Some kurabunga say the Ul Mor are demons like the Sky Demons but old tales say they created by the gods same as the People and the %&*# [the first incomprehensible word].

Kahn who has been observing the various Ul-mor speaks up, "I'm not detecting aggression but perhaps curiosity, its like they were expecting something from us that we didn't do." [psych social subskill that Kahn believes he passed]
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Shadow Shack » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:44 pm

Gideon will attempt to study the newcomers' body language. While having no formal knowledge in the psycho-social field, he'd been briefed about such clues in basic communication seminars during his tenure in Streel.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Once Far Off » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:37 pm

"What a strange trip this has been." Rigel mutters to anyone who will listen. "Well, we're still here, and my pocket tool is easily a good trade for water. So no problems here."

He bows to the Ul-Mor that handed him the water. "Thank you." He calls out to him. Her. It.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby corkman » Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:21 am

Kriss will smile and raise an open hand into the air to give his thanks to the Octopods for the water as well.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby rattraveller » Thu Jul 04, 2013 6:15 pm

Grekka will take in all that she sees, hears and takes in from the sence and apply her race's special ability to the situation and see what she comes up with.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:07 pm

After a short time the octopoids/ul-mor invite the team to sit on rough cushions and and mats with what must be the chiefs or leaders. They use exaggerated limb movements to invite them that suggest a classic gesture used by most of the Frontier's species to invite and suggest a place to sit. The way the ul-mor do it is so different from their typical limb movements that quickly everyone comes to the conclusion that the team is not the first citizens of the Frontier that the octopoids have seen as it seems they are consciously attempting to mimic the gesture.

The team is sitting close in a line facing the leaders and cautiously the chief reaches out with a limb and touches Dal-mar. Dal-mar knowing that communication needs to be established mimics the chief's move and shape shifts his arm to look more like an ul-mor limb and reaches back to touch the chief's limb.

Suddenly Dal-mar twitches as if poked with a shock glove. He exclaims, "Did no one else here that?"

"Hear what?"

"The voice, it was in my mind, I think."

"What did it say?"

"It asked me if I was with the sky demons or the Engineer, if I was the egg of Grod."

Kahn interjects, "Grod? the dralasite member of the first team?"

"I think so but how did I hear him and not you?"

"Telepathy? but why aren't we all hearing them?"

"Perhaps its touch?"

Kahn looks at Rigel and says, " You said this was a strange trip? It may have just gotten stranger if these creatures are touch telepaths. Well, we should give them an answer."
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Once Far Off » Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:45 pm

"Well - I don't know about all those other things, but we definitely aren't with the sky demons!" Rigel spits out.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:31 am

Once Far Off wrote:"Well - I don't know about all those other things, but we definitely aren't with the sky demons!" Rigel spits out.


At the words "sky-demons" the cheifs/leaders wave several tentacles in snake like wriggles to each other then they all reach out, slowly to touch the skin of all the party members while also touching each other. All at once you hear a clear voice within your heads with a chorus of voices half whispered in the background.
"Are you the sons, people, friends of the engineer?" The thoughts "people" and "friends" seemed to come from voices with different flavors.

Taking a chance Dalmar says, "If you mean the dralasite Grodd, than, Yes. We came searching for him to rescue him."

As the word Dralasite is spoken by one of you a collidiscope of images of a ragged dralasite found wandering in the desert, then standing with 3 other ul-mor covered in blood and triumpant, then awarded feather ornimentation, then joining the tribe in celebration, then riding a loper, then forging metal weapons and gifting them to all the warriors. All these images happen in the blink of an eye and from them you realize that this is the dralasite from the first team that you were suppose to locate. There are overtones of emotion in mental images of esteem.

When the word "rescue" was spoken the whispered background chorus supplied the words "save, help, locate, liberate, set free"

Dalmar answers, "Yes, we were sent to rescue him. Where is he?"

The strong clear thoughts came back, "Taken by the sky demons." and a series of mental images play of the dralasite and hunters on a hunt and a helicopter landing with Grodd offering to surrender himself if the pirates do not harm the other ul-mor hunters. The pirates seemed to have agreed and secure Grodd in the helicopter but then shoot several of the lopers and wound one of the ul-mor hunters. There is the flavor of anger in these images. There is an echoed image from the background chorus of wounded and suffering lopers and the hunter who was shot.

The thoughts come from the chief to elaborate further, "We rescued you hoping you were also of the engineer's people. For his sake we have taken you in though you are not of the tribe. If you had proven to be sky demons it would now become unpleasant for you."
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby Once Far Off » Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:38 am

"We are Grodd's people and oppose the sky demons. We will have to face them and fight them in order to save Grodd and bring him home." Rigel hopes that his sincerity will be apparent through the strange link with the Ul-Mor.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby jedion357 » Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:24 pm

Once Far Off wrote:"We are Grodd's people and oppose the sky demons. We will have to face them and fight them in order to save Grodd and bring him home." Rigel hopes that his sincerity will be apparent through the strange link with the Ul-Mor.


"This is good, the engineer said that his people would come."
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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Re: Into the Volturnian Desert

Postby corkman » Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:30 pm

"Thank you for taking us in. We also hate the Sky Demons and have lost some of our tribe by them," Kriss projects I his mind to their hosts.
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