Upon calling Cold Steel, you find that, for some reason, they do happen to be open late this evening.
"If they give you any trouble, just hand me the phone."
"Aww, I wanted to be the Avengers," says Chase, who realizes that he's only heard of about half of the teams that Erika mentions. "Doom Patrol--sounds good for the end of the world though, right?"
"Oh, imagine being in a video game. Wait, what's Madden?" adds Chase. "Wait, we can just buy a gun? Is that legal?"
”Seems like tonight’s our lucky night! Okay, let’s get together some shopping lists and get going.”
Dustin turned to Chase.
”It’s a football video game. I was actually the cover athlete a few years back. And yeah. Even in one of the most quote unquote gun control heavy states in the country, you can basically just walk into a sporting goods store and buy a shotgun. Insane, right?”
Chloé makes a few calls to make sure her shift at the clinic is covered and that her financial planner doesn't freak out at a series of unusual purchases, then says, "I suppose... this is the beginning of the journey, then." She stands and goes to the table and pours a small amount of sparkling apple juice into a cup and says, "Shall we toast to our new endeavor?"
"Is there a cape store nearby as well? I want mine in purple. Ok, ok, no more joking. This is, after all, serious. But hey, humour as a coping mechanism and all that, perfectly normal and allowed."
Erika gets to her feet, ready to head out, as she remembers the one thing she still has to do. For some reason, she has a pet-sitting service on speed dial. Walking a few paces away to allow the others to continue their conversation undisturbed, she dials it.
"Hey, Tiffany? Oh, hi, how's things? Uh-huh. Great. Listen, Tiffany, I have an emergency I need to attend to, and I need you to take care of Sibyll for me. Uh-huh. I don't know how many days, sorry. Yep. Yes, that's fine, we'll settle it when I get back. Listen, if it goes on beyond a week or so, take her to my mother, you have her address, right? Yes, of course, I'll ring her and give her a heads-up. You still have my key, right? Great, perfect! Give her a good hug from me, will you? Thanks a ton, you're a sweetheart! Alright, byyeee!"
Turning back to the others, she picks up her unfinished soda to toast to this fantastic new chapter in her life.
"As Icelanders say... Skál!'"
"Skál!"
"Skál!"
Dustin drained his beer in one long, smooth swallow, then grinned roguishly.
"Next time we do that, I have a couple of bottles of mead from the Ren Faire...I think our ancestors would want us to crack one open, don't you?"
"Skál!" adds Chase, finishing the rest of his beer.
"Oh, you should break that out now," says Chase with a grin. "Can't have an adventure without mead, right?"
"Mmm, sure, but not before I have to drive!" Chloé says, then puts down the glass. "I have a large vehicle as well but I'm just as happy to ride along - less likely to be noticed, anyway; the paparazzi know my plates. Erika, if you don't object...?"
”I’ll bring them with us in a cooler. We’ll crack those suckers open to celebrate our first victory, how about that?”
"No, not at all, I don't mind at all, you're welcome to ride with me... in my car, I mean." Wow, that was very eloquent, Erika - well done.
She digs into her purse for her car keys to try and hide her embarrassment. "Dustin, can I grab some water for our car?" Uh, 'our' car, what the hells are you doing? Stay focused.
”What’s mine is yours, Erika. I’ll grab some for you.”
Dustin does just that.
"Dustin, you're a big softie. I love it. So, Erika, what is it that you do? I mean, what your life was like before all of... this," says Chloé. "We're going to be in a car for seven hours, I suppose we'll be talking about everything, might as well know each other better."
Dustin looked over at the newcomer.
"Sorry about all this, Nick...we sort of rushed through that and didn't really have time for introductions. Want to ride up with me? That'll give us a chance to get acquainted."
At this point, you may all put together a basic list of items for yourselves. If you could find it at a Target or a sporting goods store, you can have it.
Cold Steel has mostly swords, and perhaps an axe or two. They wouldn't have anything like a Labrys, but you can find a skeggox and most of the more common blades listed in the book.
The drive takes as long as Chloe thinks. Hugin and Munin offer a few more well placed words before you depart; mostly instructions on how to use your relics and Purviews, if you had any debt.
Your driving arrangements are up to you, as is the tenor of the conversations you will have. Simply but a brief spoiler as to what you share on the ride up.
The journey is mostly uneventful. As your GPS tells you you are arriving at your destination, you see what Chloe spoke of...a ghost town.
Gaping holes lie in what were once whole roofs. Several buildings in the town have collapsed into ruin. Mining equipment that was once state of the art lies rusting, victims of time and the elements. There is a ranger station, but no one is inside. All that blocks the road into Bodie is an old sawhorse, which is easily moved. The ranger station has a map of the area. Parked nearby is an weathered Yamaha motorcycle that strangely has a bit of frost clinging to it's metal.
What do you do?
During the car ride, Dustin asks basic questions to his companions. What they were doing with their lives before this. Who they were. If they were close to their families. If they had anyone special.
For himself, Dustin is fairly open, and responds to any similar questions in kind; he is an open book.
Once they get to Bodie, Dustin gets out of his car and moves the sawhorse to the side. After he does that, he opens his trunk and changes.
His pants are the same, but his muscles bunch and ripple as he switches shirts. He removes his button up (and is thankful he showered before he left), and puts on a plain white tee shirt that leaves very little to the imagination. Over it, he puts on a black vest that makes it seem like Dustin should have been riding a motorcycle rather than the Elon Musk version of a soccer mom car. He also switched his belt, with the clasp now in the shape of Mjolnir. As he did so, he attached the scabbard of his blade Dainsleaf to the belt. He patted his vest's pocket, ensuring the God-nail was where it should be. It was.
Next Dustin strapped a Viking round shield to his arm and put on his backpack, which was loaded with camping and survival supplies. He left the firearms he'd purchased in his car; if someone wanted them, they could take them, but he didn't trust himself with them yet. Finally, he slung his javelins over his shoulder.
And he just knew that he looked utterly ridiculous.
Trying to keep embarrassment off his face, he turned to the others.
"So, where should we start looking?"
Back in the car, she chats with Chloé and whoever else might join them - about her work as a prosecutor, her cat, her mother, her holidays in Iceland, the books she reads, the games she plays, the movies she enjoys. She tells Chloé of her admiration for her work - not just turning Red Sonja into a feminist icon, but her other work as well - at the clinic and at Planned Parenthood. If given the occasion, she goes on a bit of a rant about women's rights, comparing the situation in the US with the one in Iceland, talking about the pay gap, gender roles and so on. She does listen as well, and she is a very good listener, curious without being intrusive, sympathetic, open-minded.
As they get closer to Bodie, Erika becomes quiet, running mental checklists over and over. Once they stop, she checks her pistol and her new rifle, making sure they are loaded and tucking spare ammo in the pockets of the utility belt she's picked up at one of the stores. Her bulletproof vest stays on, now covered by a T-shirt and hoodie rather than the immaculate white dress shirt. Her purse is securely tied to her belt.
Leaving the rest in the car and locking it, she looks around.
Detective Jonnson sits quietly throughout the meeting, listening and gathering information. All the questions he felt were needed to be asked had been answered, so he instead used the time to learn more about the group he was working with. When they made the decision to go right then, he sent a simple text to his landlord arranging for Torg to be taken care of.
"Excuse me a minute." he says, standing and walking out to his car. He gets in, drives around and parks it in front of Dustin's house. Getting out, he goes around to the trunk and opens it, pulling out a duffel bag and a backpack. He closes the trunk and trots back to the house and lets himself in.
Setting the duffel bag on the table he unzips it to reveal that it's a go-bag, filled with a few changes of clothes, multi-purpose boots, a police-issue bulletproof vest (slightly used), and a .38 revolver with a half-dozen speed-loaders on a belt holster. In addition, he had about $3000 in cash, a multi-port phone charger with car adapter, a package of foam earplugs and a large plastic bag of toiletries.
"I wasn't sure if I'd need the extra gun, so I packed it." Ulf said plainly. "Found a bag like this once on a case, except it had about 3 kilos of coke in it."
-------------------
During the visit to Cold Steel, Ulf will ask if they have anything in silver. Not expecting it, though, he does pick up what they called a Viking Sword. He understood how to hold it and swing, but was an amateur, though his supernatural grace helped mitigate that.
On the car ride, Ulf spends time sleeping, his arms crossed and his chin on his chest. All it would need is a fedora on his head and he'd be a complete stereotype of a movie private eye. The headphones and beats coming out of them, however, contrast the appearance a little.
If anyone wants to ask him questions, they can do so.
Once the car rolls to a stop, he wakes, wipes his eyes and puts on his glasses once more, getting out and joining Dustin in changing clothes. Stripping out of his tie and collared shirt, he pulls the vest on top of his undershirt before donning a gray collared shirt, strapping on the side holster and scabbard, and pulling the trenchcoat back on over it all.
"As ready as I'll ever be." he says aloud.
They're so blasé.
"Hold on a second guys. We're just gonna go off and fight monsters or whatever? As he continues to speak Nick picks up speed, probably making him hard to understand for the yankees and Europeans.
"I mean, I'm a doctor, not a warrior. How am I s'posed to fight giants and apparently werewolves? And Memphis needs me. What if there's some weird outbreak or a serial killer? It's not that I don't believe. How could I not? Kinda hard to dismiss a corpse sittin' up and talkin'..."
He trails off and looks at the pair of ravens with a sigh. Before anyone can try to convince him he says, "Who am I kidding. The world is apparently at stake, Memphis will have to do without me for a while. I'm a man of science and my brain is still fightin' all this stuff.
"Sounds good Dustin."
When they arrive Nick pulls off his Megadeth shirt, he doesn't want to ruin one of his good shirts, and opens up a bag of cheap shirts he bought at a walmart. He then straps on Gram and hangs onto a piece of bone. He puts his vest on under the shirt but over a wife-beater and sticks a pack of cigarettes in the breast pocket.
He takes note that Dustin has a sword too and nods.
"How long has this place been a ghost town? Why is there a motorcycle here?"
Chase rides in Dustin's car; as he is still very jetlagged he sleeps for most of the trip, awakening only at the various stores they visit. At the box store, he buys mostly American sweets and energy drinks, which he resists the urge to eat immediately.
Chase has no clue what to look for at Big 5; he's both eager to see the guns and intimidated by their presence (and a little perplexed as to why a sporting goods store sells gun right next to the football gear and golf clubs) so like Erika he follows Dustin's lead, picking up a combat knife but ultimately demurring on the gun.
Chase chats eagerly if talked to, discussing Australia, his flight over, his first impressions of America or almost anything else if asked--but he becomes evasive if asked anything more personal, particularly about his family.
When they arrive in Brodie, Chase retrieves his relics from his bag, wrapping his net around his shoulders, slipping his moonstone into his pocket and carrying the Queen Anne's Revenge awkwardly in his hands, switching between left and right as they walk. He straps the knife to his pants in a way that he hopes look cool but probably mainly looks awkward.
"Reckon that should be where we start looking, right?" adds Chase. "Kind a strange for it to be all frosted over in the middle of the desert. Maybe the Heart of Winter's a cycle then?"
"Seems as good a place as any." Nick takes a double take at Chase's attire, "Son, are you wearing cowboy boots with khakis?"
Erika; with that roll, you care quite aware that nothing is moving about withing the range of your senses in this time, other than your party. You also look at the ground and do see evidence of recent movement through the area; anyone that wishes to may roll (Intelligence+Survival) to attempt to follow tracks. If you do not have the Survival skill you may still roll your Intelligence.
Looking at the bike reveals that there is a pool of gas around it from a now-empty tank, and the regulator was somehow frozen and then destroyed. Other than that, it seems quite mundane.
As you begin to explore the town, cold winds whip at your clothes and chill you more than perhaps they should. This place might be making some of you uneasy; there's simply a lack of life. That's the point with ghost towns, of course, but still...
All of that, though, seems to wash away the moment he puts on his relics and girds himself for battle.
Dustin frowned, somewhat disappointed in himself.
Really man? Tabletop games once a week with your friends and you don't think to check for tracks first? You really must be freaked out.
1 success + 2 Auto= 3 Successes.
Dustin notes the booted footprints and their direction, then takes out the map he'd snagged from the ranger's station. He motioned everyone to him.
"Hey guys...you all seeing this? What do you think? Bodie was a mining town, right? Would the tunnels still be accessible through that building?"
"This is not a ghost town, there aren't even ghosts around. It just feels so empty..." Erika whispers as they move around the deserted streets. She is not sure why she is whispering, it just seems... appropriate.
She really hopes that whatever befell that motorcycle will not also affect their vehicles. Just to be safe, she moves her SUV a bit farther away from the town limits, rejoining the others on foot. She really likes this car; it is big and black and impressive. Says 'don't mess with me'. Or so she hopes.
Distracted by the concern over her car, and the cold, and wondering whether or not Sibyll will be ok without her for a few days, she seems startled by whatever it is that Dustin is pointing out.
Nick- your Death Senses do confirm that there don't appear to be any Ghosts about.
"Makes sense to me that they would. Only one way to find out."
He turns to Erika, "Nope, no ghosts, at least not yet," he says, somewhat cryptically.
"Abandoned, but not forgotten." he says plainly. He was afraid, it was the first time they were in an unusual circumstance, but he still couldn't help but feel somewhat excited. "Let's go in expecting strong resistance."
Yes, Ulf, that's quite appropriate. Go ahead and roll Perception+Investigation.
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Chloé's personality is powerful - her presence is intoxicating. It's easy to see how, even before her Visitation, she could make a career as an actress. She is an excellent listener and she seems to naturally mirror the excitement or the interests of her subject.
While she readily talks about her career and her current projects, she also prods occasionally for Erika to tell her more about her own work.
The clinical part of Erika's mind, the part that focuses on judgment and insight and understanding people, sees that while Chloé is not innately as powerful a draw or presence as someone like Cate Blanchett or Sir Ian McKellan, she is still very proficient as a performer - her skill both at emoting and at understanding her audience is masterful. And her ability to make people feel like they are not just an "audience," but that they are important, is likewise potent.
At one point during the drive, while asking about Erika's work as a prosecutor, Chloé turns her gaze to fix Erika and says with all honesty, "You actually fight to make the world a better place. You make it safer for people who've been victimized, and you track down people who take advantage of others, those who commit violence, and you help to stop them. All I've done so far is make pretty pictures that say 'these things are bad.' You actually do something about it."
And yet in spite of this powerful persona, she has none of the gifts that many of the other Scions have talked about. No incredible strength. No great skill with a gun, or even a bow. She's not invulnerable, or quick, or even as smart as Erika.
The one thing she seems to do with supernatural ability is to inspire hope.
Once at Bodie, Chloé steps out of Erika's car and pulls the trenchcoat that she picked up at Target a bit tighter in response to the sharp wind that cuts across the gravel lot. Beneath she wears a track suit, either an accidental homage to Kill Bill (itself an homage to Enter the Dragon) or possibly a deliberate choice. She pulls an arming sword from the trunk of the car and bounces it up and down a few times, nervously.
"Anyone have binoculars?" she says as she squints and looks out at the cavalcade of decrepit wooden buildings and the distant abandoned(?) mine.
Ulf glances at Chloé as she requests binoculars, fishing an old and well-used pair of small binoculars from his backpack and handing it to her.
Ulf- those booted footprints belong to what have to be the biggest sets of feet you have ever seen. They're massive.
"Oh, thanks."
She peers through the binoculars to get a better look at some of the buildings that are still standing, and at the old mines, just in case she can spot someone - anyone.
After a few moments she holds the binoculars back out for anyone to try. "I don't see much but dust blowing around."
"These prints belong to an enormous person. Heavy too, to create impressions that deep in dry desert earth." Ulf relays to the group. "If he were just standing out there, we'd notice. He'd have to be at least a head and a half taller than Dustin, and that's a lowball estimate."
"That's, um..." Erika trails off as she looks up at Dustin, trying to picture someone so much bigger than him. "Human? How big was that werewolf... but no, I guess a werewolf wouldn't wear boots. Wow, ok. Let me think a moment." She runs through the list of mythological creatures that would fit this, admittedly sparse, profile - big, but human-shaped enough for footwear.
Dustin grimaced. He wasn't used to people being bigger than him...if it was in fact a person.
"I say we investigate. First order of business is this fence. Anyone feel like trying to pick the lock at the gate? If not...I mean, we can just jump over it. I can jump pretty high these days."
Erika- it's most likely a giant of some type. Giants are among the more common Titanspawn, your research has indicated.
"Whatever it is, it's probably a giant of a man." he answers Erika's statement. "Or woman. The boots are unisex."
"We might just have to jump it, or you can use your shiny sword to cut the lock off." Ulf says. "I forgot to pack my bolt cutters."
"Giant is probably accurate. Well, I'll let you have your fun with that fence." Erika takes a step back, unslinging the rifle from her shoulder and pointing it towards the building, in case something big and mean would charge out of it.
Dustin shrugged, then took hold of his sword.
”Not exactly the most heroic of first uses,” he muttered to himself. Still, he brought the blade down hard, swinging at the padlock.
Dáinsleif slices through the padlock easily. The gate opens when you try it.
Moving in, you see the tracks lead to the front door of the building. Upon trying it, it is locked, but there is no obvious lock on this side of the door. What do you do?
"Maybe there's a back door?"
Dustin walks the perimeter to see if there are any other ways into the building.
There are no other points of entry that you can find.
Dustin glances at the group.
"So much for quiet. Stand back, guys."
Dustin went up to the door, and, just like he'd seen in movies, threw a hard front kick at the door.
The old door is no match for a heroic Scion with Epic Strength. It flies off of it's hinges, launched straight back. It crashes into the opposite wall with a resounding boom.
A quick look around shows you that the building is empty. Whatever was in here has long since been cleared out, but dirty footprints lead straight to the mine elevator. Normally, the ancient elevator wouldn’t be operational, but someone has gone to the trouble of installing a large, shiny new hand-winch that can be cranked to raise or lower the lift. The elevator is a large affair made of rusted metal, very noisy and very dirty.
What do you do?
Ulf will walk into the room, taking note of what his enhanced senses tell him, he leans over and looks down the shaft.
"Your entry was top notch. Just like SWAT, but with ten times the leg power." he observes. "If we want to try to be subtle we can slide down the cable instead of crank the elevator down."
He tilts his head, listening. "I don't hear any alarms." he says.
Chloé passes the binoculars back to Ulf and says, "Time to switch to a flashlight, I think."
After a pause, she says, "If this is like the movies, down is always where things get bad. Like the pit in the second season of Daredevil."
There is no light. The sun is filtering in from outside.