"Excellent protection on this. If I'm going to be up close and personal, I may need it. It's so...inelegant though. Decisions, decisions."
"Put it on, Fitz. You've already had one too many close calls. Besides it's hard to look smart when you're dead."
Mickey picked up one of the bats and stared curiously at it.
"Does anyone know what 'Lou-is-vil-lee' means?"
Petey lets out an impressive belch after chugging down the water and scarfing the beans. He grins. "You're nice, Spaulding and...um...Karate Guy....Fitz?"
His massive finger starts to dig in one nostril as he watches the others pick over the body. "Do you know where the vault is? I'm lost. They've got a blue suit like I used ta wear, but the picture is different."
"Thanks Petey. You're nice too. And my is that a big sword you have there. You must be a great Ninja. Have you gone a long way from your vault"?
Petey grins widely at Spaulding's compliments.
"Um...it's been a long time. Lots of days since the men in the dresses with swords and the big yellow men with guns took us."
"Excellent protection on this. If I'm going to be up close and personal, I may need it. It's so...inelegant though. Decisions, decisions.""Put it on, Fitz. You've already had one too many close calls. Besides it's hard to look smart when you're dead."
Mickey picked up one of the bats and stared curiously at it.
"Does anyone know what 'Lou-is-vil-lee' means?"
"I suppose you're right. In that case, does anyone want this modified Vault suit? It provides excellent protection. Better than that leather, anyway."
Fitz dons the armor, and sights the laser rifle.
"Both need modifications. Collar is a bit tight, rifle leads a bit to the left when targeting...but I'll manage for now."
"I'm afraid I'm not sure who these 'men in dresses' are, Petey. Where did they take you?"
"Umm...to...a building. With lots of robots. An more men in dresses. An' even some men in robot suits. N' I even saw a big yellow man in a HUGE robot suit! There was icky baths with green slime water that tasted like salami. They made us all take baths in it. It was gross. N'Mr. Anthony, who wore a robot suit and had two FIRE SWORDS!! He said we was gonna be soldiers in an army. Then they gave me a room but I couldn't talk to mommy, who was purple now, and lost her pretty hair. They was teaching me to use a sword and fight. But he wanted me to hurt people who was scared, an' I din wanna, so then the bad men came n' took me to d'rena, where I was s'posed to fight strangers n' cats, n' geckos, n'stuff, but it was loud and I missed my mommy, so I broke the door to the room they had me in, an' tried to find the way back, but then the mean men started chasing me..n' you guys came."
"I...see. This is a bit much t take in, and sounds like a far bigger threat than we can handle. We should warn the Brotherhood when we get back, assuming they don't already know."
"Is there anywhere you want to go, Petey?"
"Home..." He laments morosely, and his deep voice sounds disconcerting when he leans back against a tree and starts to cry. Sniffling, he tries to gather himself.
"But the men all took everyone from home, n' I dunno where the building with the sticky green bath and mommy is. N'people take guns out an yell at me when I ask for help, n' call me 'mutie' or 'freak' or other mean names."
"Oh yeah! It was....It was...Tell A He Say! They said it was a place called Tell A He Say!"
"Well...I'm not sure it would be good for you to go back there. Didn't you say you escaped because they mistreated you? And they wanted you to hurt innocent people? It sounds like a bad place."
"I ran from d'rena. Dey took me from Tell A He Say to d'rena, cause I din't wanna hurt the scared people. Dry said people there'd hurt me if I don't hurt them first. But mommy is in Tell a...Tell...um..that place. N'...n' I got no place to go."
"I understand you want to go back to your mother...but the same thing will just happen again if you go back. They'll ask you to hurt people, and then send you to the arena if you don't want to do it. And next time...you may not be able to escape." Fitz tries explaining this very slowly and patiently.
"Perhaps it would be best for you to try and make a new home somewhere else?"
He nods, slowly, wiping his tears and sniffling. "Yeah...yeah I guess...but I dunno where to go."
"Ideas, gentlemen? I'd love to bring you with us, Petey, but from the conversations I've had, some of the people we're allied with don't like the others that look like you, and might attack on sight."
...A tumbleweed uncharacteristically blows through the middle of the former swampland known as Florida...
"I'm all for trying somewhere else. That Brotherhood might be well armed and nice enough, but they're kind on selfish and stand-offish. They take care of themselves but don't seem to eager to help others. Maybe we can find somewhere more friendly to Petey"
"I wouldn't say selfish. Their goals are very noble. They are merely very cautious, and always have anneye toward the greater good of the future, rather than the immediate present."
"But that's neither here nor there, they certainly won't react well to Petey. Perhaps Palatka will be friendlier, hm?"
Spencer mulls over the situation for a while as he goes through the group's pickings from the fight. Finally, he slings the shotgun onto his backpack, now loaded up with a fair amount of gear, and turns to the others. "Wherever we find it, we should find Petey a home. He deserves somewhere safe to stay, with a family that cares for him and protects him. We all deserve somewhere like that." He sighs and looks back to the road. "Let's try Palatka. Hopefully they'll be open-minded and kind. If not, we'll find somewhere else."
"Plat-Ka. That's a funny name. Plat-ka!"
As you continue walking down the road, it starts to get dark. You think you remembered someone at the Brotherhood saying it would be a two day walk to Palatka, and that something called the Dome was along the way. Petey seems to be nervously quiet, clenching to his sword like a comfort toy.
Off in the distance in the direction you are walking, you can see a light, just east of the highway. Eventually, you can tell it's actually several lights, flashing into the sky and moving around, almost as if it's trying to draw attention. As you get close enough where you could pass it on the highway, you notice the lights are coming out of what looks like a stadium of some sort, just to the east of the highway. It is now, by this point, totally dark outside. A crudely made sign at the side of the road seems to be thrown together from scraps by this highway exit.
The Lightning Dome --->
Win Big At ---------------->
The Lightning Dome ---->
The road to Palatka continues north, in either case. Petey warily eyes the stadium in the east and continues to hug his sword, but yawns, clearly looking tired.
You can hear noises coming from the stadium.
Spencer trudges along as the day goes by, keeping a position in front of the group and constantly scanning their surroundings. Have to keep these people safe. And now we've got a kid-turned-giant monster with the group. He keeps his eyes focused on the path they're taking, but also glances behind and to the sides frequently enough.
When they get up to the lights and stadium, he frowns as he reads the sign, and his brow furrows deeper when he picks up the sounds. "Shh..." He whispers to the others. "Listen to that. Is it... are those cars? They have cars working?" He cocks his head and concentrates. "And something else... I can't quite make it out."
Notice
WD
"Yeah. I hear that. Think we should check it out. Sounds like they're really going fast".
Fitz is pretty sure he popped an eardrum or something trying to clean out his ears to hear better, and now is suffering some mild tinnitus.
; Total = 9
Mickey's face scrunches up in thought.
"That's people. I can hear people cheering over the cars. Don't know why, but I got a bad feeling about this. But we sure don't got any better options. Let's get closer. But be ready to run if things go pear-shaped."
Spencer looks to Mickey and nods. "Alright. Let's try and sneak up there, see a little more of what's going on. But if it's a real dome, we probably won't see much... and I'm not sure I want to go inside."
With Spaulding and Mickey prompting, you turn off road to check it out. The road seems well traveled, and you can see tire marks everywhere, and the noise is getting louder.
As you get closer to the stadium, you can see it is a relic of prewar construction. It's certainly the largest standing structure you've seen so far, the size of a large football stadium in height, but much wider, and it seems like it's been reinforced post apocalypse with random plates of steel, rebar, and whatever else could be welded on to hold it together for that Mad Max touch, as a skeletal dome covers the stadium, preventing people from climbing in over the walls.
As you get closer you can see there is a legitimate crowd walking around outside, as well as a small city. Buildings have been thrown together out of what looks like wrecked automobiles, scrap metal, tractor trailers, and other automotive refuse. Bright lights flashing at the stadium indicate "The LIGHTNING DOME" is fashioned out of disassembled car frames on the stadium itself, and now...well, now you can hear gunfire, and then an explosion within the dome, and the crowd going absolutely wild with excitement. A loudspeaker announces, "...and it looks like number 73 is out of the race! Four laps to go, folks, and this is a close one!"
Guards in metallic armor seem to be set up strategically around the area with laser rifles seem to be keeping an eye from towers, while lighter armored guards patrol below with 9mm SMGs.
The citizens, some (but not all) of whom seem to have the same red "S" tattoo seem to take no notice of your approach, but a few sneer or spit on the floor at the sight of Petey...yet nobody makes aggressive movement. Petey, for his part, seems nervous, and is gripping tightly to his sword.
The town seems to be a funnel towards the stadium entrance, with a few shops, houses, and a bar called "The Winner's Circle" constructed from two opened up tractor trailers. There are some outdoor restaurants, and people seem to be generally going about their business.
No other mutants seem to be in sight, but there does appear to be a ghoul running the bar.
A few men in chains can be seen walking despondently behind some of the men with S tattoos towards the stadium.
Some ladies, and a few men, are clearly advertising their "personal wares" outside of an inn called "The Pitt Stop", some in chains and little else, some unchained.
"Revolting. Must we investigate such a barbaric place?"
"Hmm. This looks interesting, but maybe Petey and somebody else better wait out here. Looks like his type is not popular, and I would hate him to be in chains again. I'll stay with him if nobody else wants to".
You can tell by his excitement that he really wants to see what's going on, but feels responsible for Petey.
"Nah. I'll stick with Petey. I'm not as good with people as you are," Mickey says, sensing Spaulding's desire to see inside.
Mickey and Fitz decide to hang back from the stadium with Petey, while Spaulding heads up to check it out with Spencer
"Hey boys, looking for a room? 20 caps a night, 50 if you want company...200 if the mutant does."
"Evening gentlemen. Great night for a race, huh? It's a little too late to take bets for this one, but another round should be coming up in a few hours once we get the track fixed up...that last explosion was a doozie... and we have a pair of mutants scheduled to fight a giant Yau Guai around midnight with nothing more than a pair of rebar clubs, so it should be a good night to get your bets on! You here to watch, bet, participate, or offer up an involuntary participant?"
Spencer quickly steps up as Spaulding moves toward heading out. "Best we stick together," he says, clamping a hand around the youth's shoulder. "Safety in numbers. And take this in case." Spencer hands him the pistol, figuring between the varmint rifle and shotgun he himself will be fine if a fight breaks out.
At the entrance, Spencer raises an eyebrow and frowns at the suited man's comment. "Involuntary? What exactly does that mean?"
The man in the suit narrows his eyes at Spencer's question. He stares for a second, sighs, rolls his eyes, and spits out quite rapidly an obviously memorized speech.
"Weunderstandyourconcernwiththelivesofimfividualsthrownintothearenaagainstt heirwill....
...Thelighningdomeandthecityofdomedonotapproveofthecollectionofslavesbutsla veryisarealityinmuchofthewastesowesimplychoosetogiveentertainmenttothepeopl eandhopetotheslavesthemselvesbyallowingthemtocompeteforfreedomwithallslaveo wnersreleasingcustodyofgladiatorsandracersuponreceivingtheirentrystipend...
...wepromisetodonatetenpercentofallnetprofitstothefollowersoftheapocalypsei ntheirefforttofreeallslavesandofferaffordablehealthcaretothoseinneed..."
He then stares blankly at you, like a retail employee after you ask the price of an item with a very visible sign right next to it.
Fitz swishes a finger around in his ear, trying to clear it.
"Can you repeat that?"
Assuming they do:
"Ah no, ehm,...ladies. We're just waiting here while our friends investigate this place."
Spencer's frown deepens as he stares at the man. "Real great at customer service, aren't we." He turns to Spaulding. "I don't think there's anything in here we want or need, kid."
"No I guess not. I would like to watch the cars someday though".
As he and Spencer head back towards the others, Spaulding remarks. "Shame we're so poor. I could use a good night's rest".
Spencer gives Spaulding a tired smile and rubs his jaw, feeling the bristles of growing stubble. "Yeah. But hey, perk up, I'm sure we'll find somewhere to stay."
Some of you can hear a few things around town...
As Fitz waits impatiently, he overhears a few useful tidbits.
"Well. I do hope we're never THAT strapped for cash. I admit, fighting is quite the thrill, but killing for nothing but the amusement of others doesn't appeal to me."
"These group rooms sound like a good deal, given how expensive food is out here. Shall we rent one for the night, or seek other lodging?"
Spencer overhears the same conversation as Fitz upon returning to the others, and he nods. "It's getting pretty late, and I'm sure we're all tired. As for killing, you're right--it's deplorable." The man frowns and looks over his shoulder at the stall he'd visited. "They use slaves. The whole thing is despicable."
So you get a good night's sleep on the surprisingly comfortable beds and couches. You're given a big meal of bloatfly sliders and Nuka Cola for breakfast.
Streetwise Total of 6
XD
WD
Knowledge: Common
WD1
Spaulding sleeps like a rock, the excitement and drama of the previous hours finally exhausting him. He dreams of the crowd cheering him on, as he drove his mighty vehicle to victory in the arena.
The others look at him strangely as he awakens from a particularly realistic dream that morning, by rising from his sleep his arms raised in a "V" for victory, with a huge smile on his face. He then quickly looks around, realizes what he is doing, and tries to turn his victory pose into a yawn and stretch.
"So we journey on to Platka".
He then looks around quickly to make sure Petey is still with them and save.