Vonash |
It apparently only gets one 'channel' which is currently playing some kind of variety program that is probably supposed to be funny. It tries. You're pretty sure this Pete Seeger fellow is covertly singing about the Vietnam wa
Hey, I (the player) am an old fart who remembers LIKING the Smother Brothers and Pete Seeger!! Be careful who you dis :-) :-) :-)
She turns in early, however
"Yeah, lets get a good nights sleep. That will teach the others to walk into town :-)"
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Do the crew on the highway answer their comm call from Jasmine and find out about Milo and Jasmine staying at the hotel and join them? Do they keep walking until they find a donut shop? I'm not trying to stop you from continuing this conversation, however.
You have the information you need to make a plan. I can answer any questions about information that you've been given if you forget.
Carson "Troubleshooter" Murdok |
"I don't think the destruction of the tires is going to be that big a deal. The car was pretty wrecked as it is, I just slightly added to the damage. However, they may find it a bit more difficult to get it moving should they regain consciousness. Shouldn't make that much of an impact other than make them later in the morning. Which, as Brass pointed out, should be easily corrected."
Stretching, he then added, "But I digress, let's head to this hotel."
Vonash |
"I think that I should make contact with Lee. Talk to him a bit. Maybe see if I can be around when his finger should be broken, see what happens?"
M'ilo "Mask" S'sdfotmr |
"I'll come with you. We can say we're looking to see if anyone has rooms to rent or something like that. Give reason to two young lovers wandering these woods," M'ilo suggests. "Or we can look through the campus and try and get a read on those students that were going to assassinate Nixon. Brass would probably be the best choice for making sure someone's finger gets broken, honestly."
I'm assuming that this conversation takes place over the comms.
Vonash |
"Um, if we go with the way I was thinking of making contact with Lee, having you along would probably not be the best approach. Two is company and all that"
Brass-4 |
If I need to break this man’s finger then I will, but I think recreating the original scenario should be imperative. As without it we could cause further damage to the timeline and undue pain.
Immanuel Ueda |
"I concur. There are many factors at play, and many methods we might use to return events to their original order. The less obvious and violent our approach, the better. Brute force may be necessary, but it should not be our first option."
Ueda is awake, but beyond his addition to the communication, he seems somewhat quiet and pensive. He's been such since Jade's question the night before, which led him to silent contemplation for the rest of their journey.
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
“America's space exploration program is slowing down. Engineers are being laid off, and there's a growing feeling among those in the field that once astronauts land on the moon, ‘there will be nowhere else to go.’ As far as congress is concerned, the timing couldn’t be better. With the cost of the conflict in Vietnam growing day-by-day, money to allocate towards space exploration is shrinking.”
…
“Meanwhile, in New England, stargazers may have a reason to keep NASA well funded after all. Our station has confirmed that there were four reports made of an unidentified flying object in the early morning of April 18th. The UFO was spotted over Jay's Peak, Vermont and parts of Maine. The United States Air Force will not confirm if they are investigating.”
“In Washington, D.C., yesterday several hundred people — most of them young and black, and with transistor radios tuned to coverage of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death — have gathered around King's D.C. headquarters at 14th and U Street NW.”
“Stokely Carmichael tried to convince the crowd to go home. Riot squads were dispatched in response to store alarms sounding off.”
The camera cuts to footage of a frustrated crowd outside of some brick townhouses.
Carson "Troubleshooter" Murdok |
Carson listened to the options, and the news, "The man is a security guard, so a violent option isn't too far-fetched. And it's not enough that his finger gets broken, he has to go to the hospital as well. As far as the new report, there are other big events that are going to get peoples attention, so it should be as if everyone is going to be looking for UFO's. Still though, better watch what we say and do, best not to arouse suspicions."
Vonash |
"You're missing something. We don't want to break his finger, we want to cause whatever broke his finger in the first place to happen! I think something caused him to NOT break his finger. We need to find out what that was and stop that. Which is why I think I should get to know him. Where can I find him today?"
Immanuel Ueda |
"In either turn of events, the need for the original breakage remains," Ueda interjects. "Our intent here is to return the course of time to its original track. Therefore, we should attempt to ensure events transpire as they originally did. Careful monitoring of Mister Reynolds is necessary, I feel. I believe Vonash is intimating a level of privacy in her own surveillance, which may be for the best. Gathering information on the man will be important." The android rises and puts on his jacket. "Those not engaged in direct observation of the man should attempt to engage in fact-finding elsewhere. Whether looking into the students, or asking his superiors about him. Posing as someone in a legal or official capacity may serve well."
He quickly goes through the items in his satchel, making sure they're still present, and then stores his more sensitive equipment inside his chassis once more, having removed it before sleeping. "All variables considered, our solution requires only that Mister Reynolds does break his finger, go to the hospital, and continue to work. What connection there is between these events and the assassination of Richard Nixon remains to be discovered, but in the immediate, that is our primary objective. Intentional versus accidental breaking, or outside assistance, is a moot point."
Brass-4 |
Brass listens to the talk and chimes That sounds adequate, I wish to investigate this mans home, if anyone would like to join backup would be appreciated. he begins to get himself set. Putting on his bag and and his jacket. He checks his rifle to make sure that it’s loaded before putting it back in his waistband, collapsed.
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
It sounds like people are going to split up and head in different directions to gather information of different sorts, which is not a problem and some detective work is probably a good idea.
You know the address of his home and of his employer. There are other places you could go possibly.
Who is going where?
Vonash |
Vonash is going to head to outside his home. Her plan is to wait until he leaves the house and then arrange to "accidentally" meet him somewhere. Hopefully he'll stop in to buy a cup of coffee or the like.
Jade Essex |
Jade nods to Brass. "I too, would like to learn more about him. Especially before causing him bodily harm." She adds, looking to Immanuel. "Repairing the timeline without direct interference would be preferable from my stance, you understand. Besides, we may learn of a connection by learning more about him, and also the children that supposedly commit the assassination."
M'ilo "Mask" S'sdfotmr |
"I think I'll try and meet up with some of these college students. Figure out what crowds they run with, see if I can get on the inside track of whoever might try and get them to kill Nixon," M'ilo speaks up. "If fixing Reynold's finger is the keystone to everything else, then it won't make a difference, but if it isn't, then it would be nice to have a head start on some of this."
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Okay, I think we'll start with Jade, Brass, and Vonash who are heading over to his house: Vonash to see when he comes home or leaves and try to find a way to accidentally bump into him and Jade and Brass to infiltrate.
You find the address on an old oak lined street of wooden houses that seem too large for single families but were clearly designed as such. There's a store on the corner that has a pair of chairs outside and one small table. Inside a human clerk sells cigarettes, comic books, and sugary beverages with little nutritional value. Discarded containers gather in the bushes nearby.
The house you're watching is dark brown with an overgrown lawn and what looks like it used to be a garden but is now a poorly maintained mass of last year's weeds. At around 3:20 in the afternoon, you see a man leave the house. He has brown hair which reaches just past the tips of his ears jammed under a blue baseball cap with a red B on hit. He's carrying a heavy-looking backpack that is weighing him down making the pace at which he's walking more remarkable.
He's hussling away from the house in a fast walk and carrying a backpack over his shoulders. He's heading in the direction of both the campus and the downtown.
He's going at such a speed that keeping up with him without being noticed to be doing so intentionally requires a Stealth check or a Bluff until you're in a neighbourhood with more people on the street. You get bonuses to your Bluff checks if the bluff you describe seems feasible.
Infiltrating the dwelling without being seen will require Stealth or Bluff checks and an Engineering check to disable the device.
Brass-4 |
Brass watches the man leave and walks around the back of his house trying to move in the shadows and looks for a back door to try and get in, then trying to unlock the door.
stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Know engineering: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Carson "Troubleshooter" Murdok |
"I think I'll try and meet up with some of these college students. Figure out what crowds they run with, see if I can get on the inside track of whoever might try and get them to kill Nixon," M'ilo speaks up. "If fixing Reynold's finger is the keystone to everything else, then it won't make a difference, but if it isn't, then it would be nice to have a head start on some of this."
"I'll go with you buddy. Can't have you getting into trouble on your own."
Jade Essex |
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Anything of note about the guy leaving? Does he match the description of any of the would-be terrorists? Or is he our "younger than I expected" security guard? What age would I peg him at being?
Actually, if there's time, I'm within 30 ft, and I can do so without him noticing me, I'd like to use my Custom Scanner to try and identify him. The scanner itself feels a little vague about what kind of information I get.
Life Sciences w/ Scanner: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Jade notices the hat as the man leaves, and speaks to her companions. "At this point in time, the Boston Red Sox have not won a world series game in 50 years. It will be another 36 before they do. Humans do so love their underdogs, do they not?"
"I do wonder what is in his backpack. It seems rather heavy..."
She does her best to keep an eye out for Brass while he works on breaking in.
Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Brass watches the man leave and walks around the back of his house trying to move in the shadows and looks for a back door to try and get in, then trying to unlock the door.
[dice=stealth] 1d20+4
[dice=Know engineering] 1d20+4
While slipping through the weeds and bushes, Brass knocks over a collection of beer bottles. There are little patches of them spread through the backyard. The lock gives it up easily.
She does her best to keep an eye out for Brass while he works on breaking in.[dice=Stealth]1d20+2
[dice=Perception]1d20+7
Jade hears the rattle of the beer bottles on the stones in the backyard, but she can't see any nosy neighbours peaking out of windows or any other sign that the intrusion is detected.
Opening the door releases a streak of fur that darts into the backyard and shoots towards the weeds.
You both get an attack of opportunity against the furry creature if desired.
Brass-4 |
Brass opens the door and sees the little blue of fur and instinctively goes for his rifle.
life science: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
He realizes it’s a cat and stops reaching for his rifle and goes to grab the car. Hoping to stop it from escaping.
grab: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
M'ilo "Mask" S'sdfotmr wrote:"I think I'll try and meet up with some of these college students. Figure out what crowds they run with, see if I can get on the inside track of whoever might try and get them to kill Nixon," M'ilo speaks up. "If fixing Reynold's finger is the keystone to everything else, then it won't make a difference, but if it isn't, then it would be nice to have a head start on some of this.""I'll go with you buddy. Can't have you getting into trouble on your own."
In the original timeline, these college students were complete unknowns. In the revised timeline, multiple books were written about the Ogden Four. While there are numerous differences of opinion about them, they all agree that none of them seemed to know each other before the summer, not having been friends until July at the earliest. Andy Jimenez, Alex Dancy, and Olivia Giroux weren't in Ogden most of the summer and may not be around now. Only Sophia Kush lives in Ogden year round.
- Andy Jimenez, Male, Physics, 3rd year student, no previous arrests.
- Sophia Kush, Female, Fine Arts, 2nd year, born and raised in Ogden, no previous arrests.
- Alex Dancy, Male, English, 3rd year, no previous arrests.
- Olivia Giroux, Female, Nursing, 1st year, no previous arrests.
In the revised timeline, numerous detailed psychological profiles have been published on each of them. None of them can explain their anomalous behavior. Most attribute it to drug use but provide no evidence other than "it was the sixties." The Ogden Four initially maintained that they had been brainwashed, but refused to elaborate later and ceased communicating with anyone other than their lawyers and each other. All of this happens after Nixon is dead of course.
"A number of psychological profiles have been written," writes Gabriel, "but none managed to explain their motivation sufficiently."
There was a meeting of students interested in forming a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society at Ogden, but only Andy Jimenez attended. He's often been cast as the ringleader. After the arrest, he was the one who made the claims about mind control and insisted that they 'must have been drugged.' The Ogden Four ceased talking to the press shortly later.
The press reports described them as 'ringleaders of Ogden's radical movement.' When the campus radicals believably denied knowing them, the press described them as 'a splinter group of the campus radicals at Ogden College.' Ogden was not a hotbed of student activism in either timeline, with the professoriate tending to be more vocal than the students.
In both timelines, Olivia spent the summer working as the Student Security Liaison, which mostly involved helping with the summer camps at the college starting in June.
Jade Essex |
Seeing Brass make a grab for the animal (and it likely avoid him), Jade quickly lunges for it as well, hoping that she can catch it before it gets away.
Grab: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Jade nabs the orange tabby. It immediately surrenders and goes limp as if it knows the drill.
There are also a ton of books--the physical objects, not the digital files--including an entire bookshelf of Shakespeare's work in various editions, sometimes two or three copies of the same edition. A Perception check might turn up more. You can Take 20 on these checks if you are willing to stay there for as long as it takes. If you want to search the place without your visit being noticeable, include a Stealth check.
Jade Essex |
Jade carries the cat into the home, petting it softly as she walks. Is there a collar / name tag for it?
"These empty bottles corroborate my scan of whom I suspect to be Lee." Jade notes. "His heath is... far worse than it ought to be." She cocks her head at Brass. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have your physical form degrade?"
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Jade carries the cat into the home, petting it softly as she walks. Is there a collar / name tag for it?
"These empty bottles corroborate my scan of whom I suspect to be Lee." Jade notes. "His heath is... far worse than it ought to be." She cocks her head at Brass. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have your physical form degrade?"
[dice=Perception]1d20+7
[dice=Stealth]1d20+2
The cat's collar has a tag with the name Mercutio.
Brass can also make a Perception check to search.
Brass-4 |
Brass continues to look around and answers jade without missing a beat. if you think about it we degrade like humans just at a much slower pace and are more easily fixed. It is strange to think of how accepting humans can be of death and their degradation. Have you seen this in your experience with humans?
perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Jade Essex |
"Yes, it is one of the many interesting things about them. I was told that having a time limit of sorts helps them to prioritise and be motivated. I believe their rationale is that if there are infinite tomorrows, there is little reason to begin something today. 'Make wheat while the sun shines', I believe the idiom is."
Jade looks over the envelope. "Intriguing. I believe this may be a clue. It looks to me like Lee has been betting on horses, and presumably has lost quite a bit of someone else's money. I do believe an angry bookie would break his finger to make a point.... In the adjusted timeline, Lee must have come into a great deal of money to both pay off his debt and be able to retire in just a few months."
Placing the envelope and cash back, she looks over towards Brass. "If someone is tampering with the timeline, perhaps they give him inside information into another race. We should see if there are more within the next day or two."
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Vonash |
Why does the animal lover keep ending up in the place where the animals are NOT ? :-)
Vonash follows the person that she thinks is Lee.
She makes no attempt to hide. Instead, she is striding along quickly, trying to give the impression of somebody who knows the area and is in a hurry to get to school. She basically EXPECTS to get noticed but doesn't want Lee to think that she is any way associated with him
bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Why does the animal lover keep ending up in the place where the animals are NOT ? :-)
Yep, it's happened twice!
Vonash follows the person that she thinks is Lee.
She makes no attempt to hide. Instead, she is striding along quickly, trying to give the impression of somebody who knows the area and is in a hurry to get to school. She basically EXPECTS to get noticed but doesn't want Lee to think that she is any way associated with him
[dice=bluff]1d20+ 7
'Possible-Lee' heads over to the building and looks over his shoulder before getting out his keys and unlocking the door.
Brass-4 |
it raises the question then if that is true, why do we feel the need to start things today, when tomorrow works as well. Once notices the drawings he immediately walks over to it and begins inspecting it.
know engineering: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
As he looks them over he lifts his head to answer Jade.
Offering someone a way out of a dire circumstance can make someone do some very drastic things. Our timeline manipulator may have used this to get into the university unnoticed.
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
Tarren the Dungeon Master |
it raises the question then if that is true, why do we feel the need to start things today, when tomorrow works as well. Once notices the drawings he immediately walks over to it and begins inspecting it.
[dice=know engineering] 1d20+4
From the pieces on the table and the poorly sketched design, it looks like he was trying to build or adapt some kind of communication device.
Brass-4 |
[ooc] does it look like it’s advanced for this time or advanced technology? [/b]
if appears to these are schematics for some kind of communication device. He isn’t any kind of inventor, so where did he get an idea for this?