ximilialog | MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

● ● ● M I S S I O N 4 . 2

INTRO • THE DREAM DEFERRED • YOUR WAKE UP CALL • FYI

// INTRO. WELFORD BRANSON  

It is barely past twilight in Scorpion’s Bend, the twin suns having just set, taking their light with them — but the moons delay, and so darkness lingers over the town as Lan Xichen’s conversation with one Welford Branson comes to an abrupt end. At the same time, all around the town, the team will notice the town natives around them stilling — some freezing in the middle of a sentence, a man with a fork in the air, a woman mid-step on the street, some youngsters with their mouths open in laughter. All of them become statues in less than a heartbeat; still, eyes vacant, like everything that made them seem alive has been taken away.

And then — a reverberating sigh, echoing heavily in the ears of all the Orbers. What follows are words, spoken by a chorusing voice now familiar to most of the team —

“Well now you’ve done it.”

The orb’s echoing sound is filled with disappointment, even annoyance.

Some may see that amidst all the frozen townspeople, an old man runs, clawing at his thinning hair. Some of you may hear his words, muttered, desperate:

“I don't understand, I thought 'twas just a bad dream, everyone was fine, don't understand, what in the name of the Eight could've done somethin' like this —”

The disbelieving mumbles trail at his wake, making it clear he does not know what is going on at all — in fact, you may have a better idea as to what has happened than he does. But as you turn to follow him, open your mouth to yell at him to stop... everything around you shatters.

The lights in the buildings grow dim and break; the smell of food disappears; the horses in the stables simply fade away. You notice that if you were wearing or carrying something you bought while here, it too disappears, your clothes turning to those you had on upon arrival, all equipment shimmering away slowly.

But perhaps most importantly… the frozen statues of people crumble into ash right in front of you. It may fill the floors of the now-silent, dusty and worn-down houses, or it may blow away with the harsh desert wind — whichever it is, sans the team, the town of Scorpion’s Bend is now devoid of people.

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// PART I.THE DREAM DEFERRED  

The town that now surrounds the team is very different from the one it used to be — the houses are quiet, filled with sand and dust; doors broken, tables turned over, drawers open and mostly empty, aside from anything not valuable. The beds in Thornbush Inn are ragged, insects of various sizes skittering along the floors. The Saloon is dusty, furniture broken, and a lone piano stands in the corner, half its keys having crumbled away. The door to the Mayor’s office is ajar, a banging sound repeating as it hits the wall in time with the wind.

1.0 In the corners of the Sheriff’s office, the school and the church, the embera slither along, searching for food; owl-shrews hide from the Orbers on the streets, while feathered coyotes howl at the five moons now lending their light to see the town’s destruction better. The team may be the only living humanoids, but they are not the only living beings in the town anymore; in the absence of people, animals have made the town their home. And coexist they must, now, to survive the rapidly dropping temperature of the night that has fallen upon them.

2.0 The next morning, as the moons disappear underneath the horizon and let the two suns bring out their scorching rays once more, the team wakes up to the reality of having to survive Scorpion’s Bend… with very little supplies. So search the empty houses, for they still stand; the fire that has burned away the people has not touched the buildings… but they have not been immune to the passing of time, or the harsh weather in the desert. You may find clothing, basic equipment, pots and pans left on a now-cold stove; but no valuables, no money, no gems, no jewelry, no weapons.

But amidst your search through the town, remember that what you need, first and foremost, is to find water and something to eat — it will not be long until the suns are high in the sky, and some of you are already in desperate need of proper nourishment, without being left to endure the scorching temperatures the days on the planet of Badrock bring.

3.0 But should you want to brave the heat, you’ll find it is now possible to leave the town and venture out into the desert. Out there, the rock dragons search for prey, while bald vultures circle above your head in groups of three or four, their shrieks growing in volume the farther you walk. If you show weakness, any weakness, they strike — and the dragons, sensing their chance, are not far behind.

And when you least expect it, the ground underneath you trembles, like a small earthquake is approaching you… and then you see it: from the sand, a whale surges up, then another, and another, arcing through the air like suspended there, before the sand swallows them once more. Should you get too close, you too may be swallowed underneath the sand; unless you’re very, very careful, or have in your arsenal something else that may help you to deal with these near-immortal giants that have swam across the deserts for hundreds of thousands of years.

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// PART II.YOUR WAKE UP CALL  

Time passes at a snail’s pace without the comforts of the town you were used to. Scorpion’s Bend is now a wasteland you must survive, and it clearly isn’t easy. Some of you might question whether retrieving the orb is still an endeavour worth pursuing after all of this, but the rest of you know that it is. That you’ve come this far and you’re nearly there; you just need to band together and form a gameplan.

As the suns begin to set over the horizon on yet another grueling day of scorching heat and rough, dry sand in the ghost town of Scorpion’s Bend, you might begin to hear a distant thunder that has nothing to do with an oncoming desert storm or otherwise. It rattles at the already weakened structures of the old Saloon and the General Store, bits of broken glass and debris vibrating with the raucous sound of clattering hooves, feet, and paws. And as the sound of the invasion grows louder – you’ll hear the unmistakable manic howling and bellowing in accompaniment: these are the Bouldersnakes that some of you have already heard much of.

4.0 The Bouldersnakes are not a group to be taken lightly, and have garnered the fearsome reputation that they now hold for a reason. Kicking up dust, they arrive like a cloud of chaos in different sizes, shapes, and forms. Some have the ability to shrink and grow in size to match their opponents in physical size and weight. Other Bouldersnakes are agile and quick; and others yet are superhumanly strong and robust – either way, they make for formidable opponents when you, yourself, have been weakened from weeks of a lack of proper nutrition and sleep. The individual members of the Bouldersnakes are like a band of bloodthirsty brothers: from all walks of life and all colours and creeds, with a severe and mean streak to them, who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

What goals, you ask? Should you listen carefully, their leader, riding a winged lizard-like creature, shouts to their underlings:

“Find it! This is where it told us to come to. We missed it last time, but no more! I don't care what we have to do, we're getting our hands on that thing!”

As it so happens, you are not the only crew in search of that elusive orb; the Bouldersnakes have been tracking down the whereabouts of this mysterious and all-powerful object themselves, burning through towns – quite literally – to get it. News that Scorpion’s Bend has seen a resurgence of life and might still be the resting place of the orb has the bandits seeking out the town again. Their first round through Scorpion's Bend about a year ago had them coming up empty-handed (save for a few bits and baubles), but this time they are determined to find what they've come here to find. Though if there’s anything left here to salvage... they’ll ransack as they please.

Whether you confront them head-on or they catch you in hiding, they won’t easily back down from a fight. It will be best to keep your distance if you can manage it, and hope that they’ll pass you by. But the Bouldersnakes have their weaknesses too: once maimed, they still bleed, and none of them are immortal, though they are notoriously difficult to kill based on their talents alone... and when they carry weapons, too, well — those not accustomed to battles may find it best to hide. And even for those with fighting experience under your belt, teaming up with your fellow Orbers and combining your shared skills will be your best chance at survival.

5.0 By the time the suns have disappeared and the moons have risen, the Bouldersnakes invasion will make the bandit attack from the other night seem like a childish tussle. The Bouldersnakes don’t play nice and have adapted to the harsh lands as ruthless survivors. They arrive like a wave, many equipped with weapons: guns, sabers, pistols and small knives. A few others have engineered their own specially crafted weapons made of metal and magic (in the shape of guns, blow-torches, and blades) that wield a special element harnessed from mined ore called ‘pulsefire’. It is this pulsefire, glowing a deep blue (like the hottest colour of flame), that has the capability to destroy all living beings and allows the bandits to systematically ravage unsuspecting towns down to ash, reap its benefits (either for the town’s riches and wealth, or and especially: for any supply of ore), and then leave without a trace.

The best way to fight against pulsefire is to acquire weapons of pulsefire of your own and best a Bouldersnake before they best you. (Think high stakes, noon-time duels of the pistol.) Of course, this is a very risky and very dangerous affair as one shot by pulsefire could mean your untimely demise and the element itself isn't easy to put out either, so it might be best to work in teams to strategically disarm and swipe a pulsefire weapon to use before they manage to overwhelm you.

NOTE: If your character is alive, your character will be vulnerable to the effects of pulsefire. Unliving things such as buildings and infrastructure will not be affected. Pulsefire has a slow spread-rate over unliving things, but its effects on the living are instant. Once in contact with the element, pulsefire quickly consumes the living body and spirit until it is turned to ash. Putting pulsefire out over unliving things is relatively easy, but once pulsefire has touched the living, there's little to no chance of making it out in one piece.

All through this, you must still remember your goal — it is not to stay in Scorpion's Bend, or even fight the Bouldersnakes, but to find the orb... and that means finding Welford Branson. How will you convince him to give you the orb, when all signs point to him not even knowing what it is, or what it has done? That is what you must decide... if you survive the Bouldersnakes in one piece, of course.

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F Y I

• The events in this log take place ICly right after the end of the NPC thread.

• The voting for how to get the orb is now open! Please head HERE to submit your idea for how the team should proceed to get the orb, or +1 others’ ideas.

• The conclusion of the mission and the return to the station will be posted on February 13.

• If you have questions about anything in this log, please direct them HERE.

• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Too bad this is pointless here.

( billy picks up the money and then tosses it over his shoulder since it's not like he could pocket it and go shopping. too bad.

the blade is pretty nice but a fuckin' bayonet? god, how old was this place? )

Surprised it's not rusted up and useless. Probably because it was in the trunk and not exposed. Might come in handy.

Take it, if you need a weapon. All yours. I've got plenty of rounds on me for my pistol.

[And a knife, and a few small bombs - look, he doesn't like to go unprepared.]

You used one of those much before?

A bayonet? Before my time. But, it'd make a decent knife.

( he takes the bayonet and thrusts it through the air a few times. it's light, probably good to bury in someone's spine or stomach. )

Might work before it breaks because it's old.

[Sounds like someone's really taking the situation hard, with how negative he's being. Not that Rosinante blames the guy, of course. When you feel like shit and everything around you is as dismal as this town has become, it's easy to see everything before you as more negativity rather than finding those little sparks of hope. He's been there plenty.

Yeah, the bayonet's old, and yeah, it might break, but it might serve Billy well. Might be a tough little thing. He shrugs, and thunks the lid of the trunk back onto its contents, then stands.]

It's not a bad start. You guys don't have bayonets anymore? Why not?

[Yes, they're brutal, but they're awfully useful when your rifle runs out of ammo. And from what he's learned about the other worlds here, he's not counting on bayonets being outdated due to perpetual peacetime.]

Kind of aged out, man. We have guns and we have knives and I'm sure some people still have guns on their knives but these were big like fuckin' hundreds of years ago.

( centuries, man. he's not a union soldier! he wouldn't have been anyway considering where he was born but you know. )

But, it'll do a pinch and it still looks like it could go through someone's gut and give them a good bit of pain.

[Yeah, that it does, and he nods.]

They're all right in close quarters. And I'm thinking our chances of finding a gun in working condition in all this isn't going to be easy.

[Speaking of "this", there isn't much left to this room upstairs of interest from what he's seen. He gives it a final once-over, then nods to the stairs.]

Nothing down there?

Yeah, if there's a gun to be had, guessing it's going to be rusted and busted. Might be able to throw it at someone but that's about it it.

( billy continues pushing aside a few things but after a moment, stands up and shakes his head. )

Not a fuckin' thing. Maybe there'll be better luck upstairs.

Worth a look, anyway.

[The stairs in this place are awfully rickety, but Rosinante doesn't seem to pay them the slightest mind. He takes them several at a time, his long legs easily able to span multiple steps at once -

Well, until he misses one entirely. Maybe you could blame the broken one he has to step over, or the fact that the lower step his back foot is on wobbles, but really it's just a him thing. He falls, crashing down onto the stairs, and scrambles to hold on to the railing so as not to fall right back down onto Billy. The entire house, old and fragile, shudders.

The railing cracks ominously when he starts to use it to haul himself upright, and he freezes.]

That didn't sound great.

Fuckin' shit, man.

( billy's a few steps below him and as soon he starts falling, billy grabs onto the railing and hears it start to creak and shudder.

that's not good. )

This shit is going to come down around us if we're not careful.

Yeah, sorry. Can't help it.

[At least he's willing to admit that. It's not like he's trying to take the entire staircase down for fun.

But now that he's had a second to collect himself, he shifts his weight to his knees and lets go of the railing, instead using one of the steps to help push himself up. This also goes poorly as the step immediately breaks under his palm, but as shards of it rain down, he grabs another and rights himself. He'll deal with the splinters later.]

Shit. Okay. Just... step over that one.

[Onward and upward, to the second floor which is more of a loft. He has to stoop to fit.]

Kid's bed, sewing supplies... Hm.

Needles? Thread?

( after his careful ascent up the stairs, he comes up behind rosinante and peers around. )

Might be good for stitching people up since I'm sure they're gonna be all fucked up after this. People have a habit of getting their shit banged up here.

That's for sure. You have any medical training?

[Billy's right though, these are actually useful. Maybe moreso than a gun - a good doctor can help a lot of people. He nudges aside the dusty box full of supplies from where it sat by a chest of drawers so he can get into that and see if there's much else, but finds only a few handfuls of colorful fabrics. Still, they're in good shape. Helps they were tucked away.]

I can stitch a wound.

( he's learned about basic first aid to keep himself alive but he's not going to be doing surgery or some shit on anyone. still, needle and thread he could work with. )

If your guts are hanging out, you're gonna have to find a doctor or some shit. I ain't doing that.

Fair enough. That's about where I'm at. Comes in handy, but we're lucky to have a few actual doctors on hand. Some kinda... magical healers, too, which I guess works just as well.

[After the effort he made getting up the stairs, he's intent on searching every corner of this room, so as he talks he's opening drawers, pulling through clothes, looking behind old broken framed paintings.]

Yeah, the magical healers is...yeah, gonna pass on that shit.

( he's just not ready to let some fuckin' magic person do up his wounds. he'll heal and be in pain like a fucking normal person.

billy moves down the hall to what he hopes is a bathroom, pulling open the medicine cabinet. it's mostly empty but he does find some bandages that might help. there's also a plunger which makes him laugh. )

They were concerned about their plumbing.

[A totally reasonable reaction, as he sees it. He was skeptical too. So he lets it go with just a sympathetic nod, then glances over in the direction of the laugh while trying to package up the needles and the thread that hasn't completely disintegrated.]

Wonder what all the dust out here does to pipes. Even in its heyday, if that's what we saw, this town didn't exactly look like an oasis. Weird place to settle.

Must have been a reason they did it, though. Unless they were desperate.

( but he thinks the town would be less put together if they were desperate. they'd managed to build up a lot before things went to shit for them. )

Allergies probably fucking sucked out there. Bunch of people with snotty noses running around.

Allergies and black lungs. The mine's got to be the only reason there's a town here at all.

[Yeah, yeah, with his chain smoking he's not one to talk, really. But that's his own dumb personal addiction.]

Pulsefire must be a regular enough thing in this world. Leave it to small towns to gather here and there, it's not valuable enough to build a metropolis out of trading it. Wonder what kind of society the rest of this place even is?

Don't think I wanna know.

( while he'd acted like this place wasn't affecting him, seeing so many things turned to dust where they had once been people was...jarring. he shakes his head. )

This place is fuckin' enough, you know. I've seen all that I wanna see.

[The wars that a world like this must have would be nightmarish. The wealthy will build their cities from stone, but the people will still be flammable. Hard to imagine the scale of possible devastation and perhaps he's best off not trying.]

Then let's hope someone here manages to track down that orb so we don't have to see any more of it. I think this'll be one we're all glad to leave as soon as we can.

Yeah.

( billy's only been around for two missions, counting this one, and he already knows that this one ain't gonna be one he wants to repeat ever. )

But I guess we gotta deal with the fuckin' orb before we get to go back to home away from home?

That's how it works, yeah. I've talked to Viveca about it. As soon as someone lays hands on that orb and we have it truly under control, she gets to work pulling us all back. That's why we never get to stay and help fix up the situations we've created, though. Too much risk in the orb getting lost, or making new deals with us and jeopardizing everything we do.

[Over all the lives in the cities they end up ruining in the process. He gets it, though. The goal is to minimize damage. He doesn't like it, but ultimately he agrees with it when he considers the possible alternatives, and the two who run the Ximilia have probably learned from quite a lot of past mistakes.]

And you've all managed to get to the orb each time? Never had to figure out what happens if you can't fuckin' get it?

( would they just be stuck wherever they were? since it sounds like viveca doesn't do shit if they don't have the orb. )

Just been a streak of good luck since everyone got here?

You've been here long enough to know it's not just luck.

[Does he really think them that incompetent, or has he not been paying attention?]

I've wondered what would happen if it wasn't recoverable. Clearest way I can imagine that happening is most of us winding up dead. If there's any luck at all, it's that we generally don't lose anyone.

[People have disappeared, though. Whether the orb sent them home or elsewhere, or whether they died on a mission, he's not sure. None of them have been anyone he was close to, and he's never witnessed the deaths of any of the crew himself. It has probably happened, he figures - but not in great numbers.]

Bound to run out at some point.

( lucky streaks happen but they don't hold. someone's going to die or some orb isn't going to be able to be found. if not now then soon. )

I like a good streak of luck as much as the others but that shit doesn't last.

● ● ● M I S S I O N 4 . 2

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