Velden takes the wall, and just watches, letting people who are better at being diplomatic do the talking for now. He studies the newcomers, and motions where they can't see him for the others to take up defensive positions.
The camo guy up in front responds to Michel, "Hail orange one, we are mercenaries looking for a pale individual, he appears human and fights with a blade and only that. We were told he was on the transport that 'landed'. We mean you no harm just looking for our bounty."
"I was a guard on the transport. We had a fox, a couple of orcs, some humans, and some elves. Nobody that was pale. Five over here is pale, but he wasn't on the transport. And you don't want him, he has STDs and isn't afraid to use them. Or so I hear." He nods at Five. "We blew up the transport to kill the bandits, cooked a whole bunch of them inside. Hard to tell if any of them were pale or not."
"if I might ask, who set the bounty? That way if you want we could back up your statement to them that he's not here"
"The bounty was set by the wizard Zurel. We will check out the area, if you do see someone strange and out of place send us a message via Echo 505. We will split the bounty of 50K creidts with anyone bringing the bounty to us. 5K for information. All we got was a vague description as you can tell, but there is not many pale folks around. Have yourselves a good day!"
Velden nod generally, and climbs back down the ladder. As he passes Ethos, he grunts, and says softly. "We need to dip you in a vat of dye. Darken you up. Or make you green or purple..." He looks thoughtful. "Wizard Zurel..." He says softly, and eyes Annaara. "Feel like doing some hacking on the global net and finding out info on a Zurel? Who he is, where he is, how big a skag I could shove up his anus?"
"I wouldn't think the specifics on that last one would be available... I could be wrong, you seem more knowledgeable on the subject matter than I
Questionnaire:
This here is a very importiant document pretaining to your usefullness and value during your stay at the beautiful resort, Radiator Ridge!
1: are you male? "Yup. See?" <Waves junk at robot>
2: are you not male? "Nope. See?" <Continues waving junk at robot, then puts Way>
3: what skill do you have, that would give us reason NOT to turn you into food for the rest of the locals? "I like the thought, but Ears said no eating people, right? Anyways, I'd bash you and eat you first. Oh yeah, I make potions and bombs and chop stuff!"
4: what special ability do you posess to prevent the rest of us from turning you into Scag bait? "I bait skag. Then I smash skag. Maybe I share after."
5: A random person is bleeding out on the floor, but he MIGHT have something of value. What do you do? "Is he fat? Covered in BBQ rub? Is the thing shiny and sharp?"
6: A scag is about to tear the incredibly Handsome Clappy apart, and you must stop it. What do you do? "Laugh. Smash skag. Eat skag. Laugh more."
7: What is your greatest weakness? "Tactical thermonuclear detonations."
8: List one amazing fact that the All-Knowing-Clappy doesnt for a bonus Copper! "Rats that live inside taste like poop. Rats that live in the open taste great!"
Do not worry, all your information will be kept COMPLETELY confidental, and would never be used to bring you harm. It will only breed trust and security among your peers. You can trust me! ^__-
To Velden: "I'm Sledj. I'm a dude. I will smash and chop anythin' that gets hostile, and make bombs, potions, and all kinds of fun stuff. Oh yeah, and I barbeque."
Then Ethos winks at Velden. He smirks and breaks a quiet laugh at Michel's comment.
Velden nod generally, and climbs back down the ladder. As he passes Ethos, he grunts, and says softly. "We need to dip you in a vat of dye. Darken you up. Or make you green or purple..." He looks thoughtful. "Wizard Zurel..." He says softly, and eyes Annaara. "Feel like doing some hacking on the global net and finding out info on a Zurel? Who he is, where he is, how big a skag I could shove up his anus?"
"Clap-Trap is you tin man for that, If we work as a team I can use his protocol processes to ghost the fire wall then slip past, not for long and it may fry tinman but i could be done, and I do have."
She pulls a sat-comm out of her pouch.
"I could hack the career signal..."
She heads off to Clap-Traps shack.
There is a doodle of a rabbit at the top
1: are you male? NO! do I look like a letter to you!
2: are you not male? yappy dood Tinman
3: are you elgible? for what? are you trying to sell me something!
4: what skill do you have, that would give us reason NOT to turn you into food for the rest of the locals? My flesh is Toxic to meat eating organics this has no meaning as a question.
5: what special ability do you posess to prevent the rest of us from turning you into Scag bait? I would blast you to small bits and then jump on them and out what was left in a little biddy box, that's why!!
6: A random person is bleeding out on the floor, but he MIGHT have something of value. What do you do? Look to see if the thing of value can help then not make such a mess on the floor.
7: A scag is about to tear the incredibly Handsome Clappy apart, and you must stop it. What do you do? Did you just say Fart? Your funny Clappy Trap!!
8: What is your greatest weakness? The NRC3282-HIS MkV1 sub router, its the old one, the new one is 40% faster.
9: List one amazing fact that the All-Knowing-Clappy doesn't for a bonus Copper! I placed a Bomb in his shell casing and gave the remote trigger to a dog to play with. :)
Once the salvaging is complete Taunk sets out to hunt down some goblins. First he speaks to the folk around the Ridge to get an idea of where he should begin his search. Afterwards he attempts to pick up a trail.
Once Taunk has returned from his trip he returns the questionnaire. It looks as if it had been folded up and kept in his pocket for the majority of the time. The handwriting used is almost impeccable.
1: Yes
2: No
3: I fight good
4: I fight good
5: Learn from his mistake
6: Fight the Scag
7: I'm not good at dying
8: Cats are allergic to onions.
You dig around on the network using the bounty board. Zurel is a wizard one of the few that have made Pandora their home. He works for Atlas and dabbles in gene manipulation. His tower is in Atlas territory in one of the military compounds. It would take about a week to get there. No information on the last bit that Velden asked about. Though it looks like he has transports coming in weekly. Any other information you might want to know about?
Goblins have not attacked for at least two weeks and in this wasteland it would be hard to track with all the vehicles running about. You begin wandering around.
Do you want to investigate the area between Fyrestone and Radiator Ridge, Fyrestone, the bandit camp across from Fyrestone, to the South, or North of Fyrestone?
Taunk does his best to recall what he knows of the tiny creatures to aid him in his search.
Taunk leaves Radiator Ridge without a word, he seems to be on a mission. Soon you are about half way to Fyrestone and you can see that the path rises. There is a 'Beware' sign up. It looks like there has been foot traffic through here within the last day at least.
Ignoring the sign, Taunk starts to follow the tracks into the high ground while keeping an eye out for cave formations.
, a purple Kama
, a yellow glowing sling,
Ring and shield generator apparently pre-identified?
"it says Zurel is a wizard and one of the few that have made Pandora their home. He works for Atlas and dabbles in gene manipulation. His tower is in Atlas territory in one of the military compounds. It would take about a week to get there looking at the maps. No information on the last bit about his b$$~ h*~&. Though it looks like he has transports coming in weekly."
Taunk you follow the trail and soon you find yourself on the border of a bandit camp. Many of the bandits walk around interacting with each other. Not many psychos in this camp, mostly raiders humans. There are a few that stick out though. With your echo device it registers the leader of the gang a tall fellow with a skull mask of somesort on, he registers as green 'normal' as all the others register as grey 'trivial'. A group of what appear to be dwarves are in the back brawling with each other. In total it looks like there is about 3 dozen bandits.
Blue gauntlet has frost
purple kama (your choice)
yellow sling has (unidentified)
You now know what the ring and shield generator are, it is just easier for me to tell you what some of the items are before I forget.
Taunk may be cocky, but he wasn't an idiot. Three dozen to one weren't good odds, even for him. Plus, these weren't even the goblins he was looking for; just a bunch of bandits. He turns back the way he came, trying not to draw attention to himself.
Unfortunately his movements loosen some rocks that proceed to roll away rather loudly.
"Op its dead, thats it for today"
"So, we gonna go smash some bandits or gobbos or somesuch? I bet they got food to take, or make em I to food easy enough."
Velden kicks the claptrap in the butt as it turns around... "Also, if any of you know how to do a full reprogram on a claptrap, come see me as soon as possible."
After getting kicked to the curb, so to speak, Claptrap turns around and pipes up
Oh! I know how to do that! In fact, I even did a full reprogram of myself not that long ago. Had excellent results! Why?
Claptrap assists Aannra on trying to find out information on Zurel, as well as any information with keywords related to "experement," 'retreval," "Ethos," "Blade," "Echo 505," and more information on these "Transports."
As Claptrap begins to collect the surveys that have been returned to him, he begins speaking to himself..
begin internal monologue for future reference.
Ethos: Unreliable as a protective meatsuit. Might not be so unassuming as he first let on. Must keep an eye out...
Michel: Weak to poison, and "Furry Mags" might make him complacent. Also not reliable as a protective meatsuit. This Sylvan language looks interesting. Must download language mod at next opportunity . Also might have possible connections to vampires and werewolves. Carry a silver bullet.
Alister: So he IS male. Was previously unsure. Alister must be silenced. He must be silenced carefully... Possibly by shoving "confidence" down his throat until he chokes...
Five:
Aannra: Seems... Confused about the questionnaire. No direct answer if she is available... Must try a different tactic... But she thinks im funny! and she gave me a bomb as a present!
Sledj: Is male. Checked and confirmed. He claims to have explosives. Must confirm. Also a poor protective meatsuit, there is a disturbing lack of lackeys willing to look out for my well being... Mind control a possibility? Must pursue future research.
Significant note. Weak to explosives. Will store knowledge for future exploitation.
Wait, am i speaking out loud?
Edit: Missed Taunks.
Taunk: Has impeccable Handwriting. Impressive. And my first reliable meat shield!!! I must stick close to Taunk from now on. Sadly he is weak to death... Will ponder ways to subvert glaring weakness...
"what makes you think I'm related to vampires? I mean I can kind of see the comparison to the ware wolf, but they're stupid, which makes me better,
"Yup, Robot. You make a tactical thermonuclear detonation, I can pretty much guarantee we're all gonna die. That's a really really really big boom."
Velden shakes his head. "Annarra, stop giving Tin explosives. He has trouble understanding 'measured response'. I saw him use an ounce of C4 to blow up a roach."
The closest bandits look up from what they are doing and see Taunk...
As Taunk likely runs for it the bandits get up to give chase then give up going back to their daily life.
Once the items are identified, Velden adds them to the vault in the mayor's house. He makes a neatly printed sign that says 'STD Collection' and puts it on the vault door. Underneath in smaller script, it reads 'WARNING - INFECTIOUS DISEASE STORAGE DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT LEVEL 3 BIOHAZARD GEAR'.
Then he puts the treasure and weapons in the vault, and posts an announcement on the bounty board for the town.
Taunk decides that discretion is the the better part of valor and flees in the face of overwhelming enemy opposition.
---
He turns his search elsewhere, this time heading for Fyrestone itself. Perhaps the goblins made their nests closer to the bandits out of necessity?
Taunk you get to the edge of Fyrestone and are glad that the wall next to the 'road' is far from the 'houses'. Bandits still occupy Fyrestone, only about a half dozen walk the streets. Between the 'houses' and the wall is a cemetery with odds and ends making up tombstones. No goblins visible.
Claptrap will be very busy working through the night trying to get as much done as a single maintenance bot can.
At one point he is building a detonator kit for himself from salvaged engine fuses, spark plugs and an ignition switch.
at other hours of the night Claptrap can be heard singing away in his shed while he attempts to restore the buggy that him and Taunk brought in. Or be heard going from house to house and banging some piping into place as he attempts to create a makeshift water piping system.
Claptrap is now done for the night and ready to move on for the next day, and ready for the Firestone bandit raid, the Gourd on his head has been painted a cameo green color, To blend in!
Velden pulls Claptrap to the side. "Tin, I need you to build me a sniper perch above the city. Something that can see as far as the bandit camps if possible, as far as Firestone is even better. That ridge above us would work, but I need a way to get up and down. Ladder, stairs, something."
At first the odds here seemed much better, but he wasn't looking for bandits - he was looking for goblins. Taunk notes the bandits and the layout of the settlement for his eventual return before slinking away to continue his search.
Velden shakes his head. "Annarra, stop giving Tin explosives. He has trouble understanding 'measured response'. I saw him use an ounce of C4 to blow up a roach."
"Did I, when did I do that, I have no record of that?"
she shows him the stuff that was taken off Clapy earlier
"See all there"
She then sits on a box swinging her legs until something fun comes along.
You continue following them and find yourself in a wasteland of plateus. Rakks fly over head, and scags seem to be living everywhere. The trail that you follow takes you off to the left and you see a tunnel for a small sized person, likely a goblin that takes them down to the next level. You can see some goblins antagonizing some rather large scags from the other side of the canyon. It is also getting dark.
With little else going on, Five takes his cue and leaves... The truck revs up and after warming up the engine the truck takes off.
Then you see Ethos appearing behind you as if the water simple falling off of him held up the invisibility. In your mind you hear male words as if rippling slowly through your pond of a mind, ::'Need a hand getting to the goblins? Best route looks through the scags.':: He holds his hands at his sides nonthreatening.
"Yeah, sure uh...friend? What're you looking to get out of it- and, if you don't mind, could ya...use your mouth? When I hear your voice in my head it makes everything smell like cinnamon."
Having finally found his mark Taunk hunkers down. Night was approaching and, with a little patience, he could use it to his advantage in the coming skirmish. For now he observes the goblins antagonizing skags; how did they guard themselves from the creatures? Was there anything unusual about the greenlings? Any traps or environmental hazards he would need to take into consideration when approaching?
Ethos cracks a smile at the reference of friend. He thinks to himself, "Ah friend that is a new term for me, never been used before." Cracking open his lips he moves his jaw around, letting his purple tongue stretch and salivate over it, preparing to talk, this takes about a half a minute.
He says in a smooth voice, "Cinnommmonnnnn. Mmmmmmm. Yesssss. Experience. Bounty. Equal share of loot." Then winks at Taunk.
He stands besides Taunk and looks where he does to see if he can see anything of usefulness.
The goblins are up on a higher plateau than the scags, about 30 to 40 feet. Farther down the canyon it looks like they have set up a barrier that keeps the scags out of their territory, the plateau slowly tapers down to the barrier of sharpened scrap metal and a old vehicle of some kind. Beyond the goblins throwing rocks down at the Scags appears to be their nests and dens. You can't get a very accurate count of how many goblins are out in the open.
Looking around he points out towards the overhanging rock above the barrier, then points to the far right and smiles merely saying, "Higher ground!"
"Alright, yeah sure we can do that. No problem."
"Between the skags and the greenlings we're pretty severely outnumbered. I'm sure we could still take 'em, but it'd be risky. Let's even the playing field a bit."
"That rock you spotted on the up above? If you can get up there without getting spotted and knock it over it'll take out the barrier and everything'll go t$$% up. That'll give you and I the chance to get in there and tear things up real good. Might even be able to get all of the little buggers, really maximize the scratch, yeah?"
"Course, if they see you before you get there then I'll pop out and draw some attention. From there we'll just see out goes. Improv, y'know?"
Once he finishes his volonteered chore of the day he shakes himself off and asks anyone who happened to be neerby "hey has anyone seen the Orc or the expirament dude? I've not seen them in a while."
Ethos merely pointed at the rock/boulder that looked weak.
Seeing that Taunk does not see the boulder or at least the weakness holding it up he relays some more information begrudgingly, "Weak structure under boulder, at least three dozen goblins, many scag, reinforcements suggested. Otherwise you climb."
The cliff wall is a climb DC 17. Every check done there is a 30% chance that one of your grips will fall apart. The wall is made up of mud and rock. Then once up on the boulder or next to it there is a 30% chance that you fall with it.
"They went out hunting goblins, didn't ask for help, so figured they wanted to keep the bounty to themselves." Velden replies to Tam.
"Aww...I wanted smash some gobbos. I woulda gone wit' em! Who wants ta follow up and smash some gobbos. Mebbe gank some bandits along the way?"
Sledj seems very disappointed he was not invited to join in the bloodshed.
Taunk dons his Astral Armor and nods at Ethos' direction. He slings his shield across his back and starts scrambling up the cliff face. \
Not accelerated climb so you only climb up 5 feet.
10 feet up
15 feet up
to grab new hand hold
20 feet up
25 feet up
to grab new hand hold
25 feet up, no progress
to grab new hand hold
to stop fall, now only 20 feet up
Fall 25 feet...
The day of Pandora ends and the nightlife comes out to play. Rakks and scaggs can be heard hunting. Michel helps Claptrap as work is done on Radiator Ridge. The next day quickly comes upon the group, well rested and ready to venture out...