Dungeons, Dine-Ins, and Dives: A Modern Fantasy Campaign

Game Master VixieMoondew

Kasumi smiles. "So you'll do it, then?" she asks.

Keeyan glances around at the others, then shrugs. "Unless I've missed something.... ?? Yeah. We need to gather some gear and practice with it. But I think we've got the information that we need."

"Guys?"

"I am willing to give it a go...I am wondering whose tragic backstory will come into play this timevthough."

Sounds like we're in. You can both stay and keep an eye on the shop. We just need the down payment we agreed on so we can pick up fresh supplies to help us finish the job.

"Great!" says Kasumi. "Sayuki, have you paid them?" she asks.

Sayuki nods. "Of course. It seemed like they were headed that way anyway."

If any of you check your pockets, you'll notice 1000gp in them.

"She's not usually so quiet, but reverse-pickpocketing you..."

"It's good to keep the old skills sharp," grins Sayuki.

Hearing and understanding Keeyan checks and chuckles. "A very useful skill! Do you have a phone number or email address that we should use for status updates? At least to let you know when we've recovered it and are bringing it to you?"

"Absolutely," says Kasumi, sharing her phone number with the group. "If you get in a bind that could be resolved by one of us showing up twelve hours later, let us know."

"The way you drive, it's likely to be more like ten hours, dear," chimes Sayuki with a giggle.

We'll let you know.

Wednesday work for you guys to get gear and practice?

Bella checks her cell...

"Yes Wednesday is good for me.

She thinks Well my Mistresses might repurpose the climbing gear...they can be quite imaginative.

Keeyan thinks for a minute, "Yeah. I've got a few vacation days I want to burn before I submit my resignation anyway.... Wednesday sounds fine!"

As they leave he quietly adds, "Are we renting a vehicle again? We won't need heavy mining equipment or be hauling ore this time, so maybe just a sedan? Or should we take a bus to the closest stop and rent a car there.... ??"

Probably an SUV instead of a sedan since it sounds like we're headed a bit of the beaten path, but definitely something higher quality than the van.

Edie is sad.

"Either we're going to have to go super-early for climbing training on Wednesday, or I'll need to call off because I gotta work Wednesday night. No saving throw, get warehouse in, gotta work it." Edie offers with a sort of dejected expression.

"As far as a car, can we get a Hummer or something like that? I definitely don't want to get trapped because our van broke down like last time -- oh, hey, did that ever resolve or are they still billing you for the rental?" she inquires after a moment's consideration.

Klyto fiddles with his phone for a bit.

Looks like early might be a relative term. The dedicated climbing gyms don't seem to open until noon.

The van? I had the extra insurance so I told them where to send a tow truck and walked away.

Finally remembered what we're waiting on:

After a day practicing rock climbing at the local rec center, the party is... sore. But they also feel like they've learned something!

If you haven't already from Discord, please level up to 3 at this point. You also each have 1,000gp from Kasumi's up-front payment. I recommend putting a point in Climb, but will not force you to.

The party gets together relatively early one morning; nobody has work for a good little while (whether they took PTO or got someone to cover for them, as necessary) and they're ready to go.

Once everyone checks in with a "I'm ready!" I'll move us forward.

I'm ready

Welcome to Level 3!

Kasumi offers to cover vehicle costs ("I know a guy! One of those elven mechanics that's been around before Henry Ford's dad and has made it his mission to know everything about cars since then") and assuming no contention, the party is soon given a... vehicle.

It's built like it was made for adventurers. The tire treads are built in such a way as to maximize grip; the suspension is amazing, and a few points of the car almost seem to be armored. There's plenty of room for equipment, and even two places where folks can lay down. Along the navy-blue hood is painted a scantily-clad gnomish lady, riding a flying greataxe sidesaddle.

The mileage is garbage, but the tank holds plenty and there's an extra, full gas can shrunk in the cargo area (as "trunk" seems to understate it) with easy instructions to grow it back to "normal" size-- and re-shrink it, if necessary.

The Elven mechanic-- tall, beer-bellied and greasy-haired, with what appears to be a permanent oil smudge on his chin-- grins.

"I owe Kasumi one or four," he explains, "and the condition you return 'er in will tell me how many of those I've paid off."

Kasumi grins. "Try not to get her destroyed-- I want to keep him owing me."

He pats the hood and smiles. "Her name's Fecklin, by the way. There's some Coca-CLoWa in the cooler for ya-- and a couple of ales," he says with a nod toward Keeyan.

That's a hell of an improvement over our last beast. That sucker gave out at the south end of the swamp and we hitched back with some bikers. We'll do everything in our power to bring her back without a scratch.

Let's get loaded up. We don't want Edie to get in trouble with work again.

Keeyan looks the.... vehicle.... car is just the wrong word! over, and turns to Klyto and the mechanic. "Wow! Yeah, this is SO much better. I just can't.... Wait! Something for your next party maybe? Just as a Thank You!"

He pulls a wand case out of his pouch and aims at the floor slightly to one side of the mechanic. "Hoping you like whiskey? Fireball!" He grins as the jug of whiskey settles on the floor beside the mechanic "Enjoy!" and tucks the wand away again.

Kasumi's eyes widen as Keeyan points a wand next to the mechanic and yells "Fireball," but before she can get off a spell herself, the sylph's goes off.

Thankfully, the room does not explode, and she and the mechanic are left staring while Sayuki giggles into her sleeve. Vixie doesn't seem to take much notice to begin with.

With that settled, the elf's eyebrows rise as he considers the bottle. "Cinnamon whisky? Don't mind if I do," he chuckles, picking it up by the neck.

"S@#~, I'm gonna share this with some gnome friends o' mine. They like to be a little experimental in their shop, so I don't let 'em touch Fecklin, but..."

He trails off.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Must be some good friends. Just wait, we'll keep him practicing so he can make some really good stuff later.

Edie is feeling a bit snarky today.

The tiefling cautions Keeyan about his wand usage...

"Just don't get those confused in a fight, unless your goal is to create an even bigger boom on the follow-up. Huh... a cinnamon-scented explosion.... that... might help with the usual 'burnt flesh' aroma..."

"Welp, I'm beat from my last work shift, so as soon as we get ol' Feck'in loaded up, I'ma gonna take me a nap in that sleepin' area. Anybody need earplugs in case I snore?" Edie offers helpfully.

Keeyan just grins, "There'll be no burnt flesh from that wand! It's the one I got from the orcs. It took me a day working at the universary, where hopefully I'll get a job in the future, to figure out what it really did. I didn't want to risk it, considering the command word! But for me, a cleric of Cayden Cailean! now I just need to figure out how to cast the spell by myself!"

Bella seems to have spaced out for most the above and she blinks...

"I am sorry I think somebody just pranked me with the Curse of Cookies." She looks over the...assault carrier, "I really hope we don't need all of that."

Edie has an insight.

"Is Feck'in shy? If not, may I get a few pictures of them before I go take the nap? I GOTTA show Fregna this, she'll never believe it." Edie inquires as she pulls out her primitive phone to take some pictures of the armored vehicle.

The elf mechanic grins. "Not a bit! Got some glamour shots of her on my Facebook, actually, if you want it-- should be able to find me under 'The Knife-Ear's Chop Shop.' ...It's, uh, not 'zactly PC," he admits.

A quick Facebook search pulls up his page without difficulty; Fecklin is pretty prominently featured...

...as is the fine gnomish lass she is presumably named after.

Sayuki's eyes gleam from across the parking lot, but she stays silent.

I'll have to give you my info if we make it back. My specialty is armor, but there's more demand for weapons. Still, I could do some custom work for you or your friends if you need it.

That said, we better hit the road, for Edie's job security if nothing else.

"Think you can do carmor?" he asks, rubbing his chin.

"I think somebody just pranked me with the Curse of Cookies."

"I'm no stranger to that one, Sister!" he chuckles, opening the back door for her. "Have a good lay-down and leave the drivin' up to somebody else, right?"

He looks over the rest of the group.

"None of you are about to tell me 'these edibles ain't s$*&,' right?"

Depends, is that bird making sense to you?

Elf Mechanic eyes the bird.

"Unless he's talkin' about bacon, I have no idea what he's sayin'."

Keeyan hears the bird squaking and shakes his head, "Need to teach that bird to drink!"

Edie no haveth Fakebook on her phone

The tiefling nods and takes a few pictures with her phone and sends them to Fregna with a bit of a nod.

She then clambers into the sleeping area and almost as soon as her head hits the pillow passes the eff out.

I heard bacon, too. Thought he was back at the forge, but I guess he's coming along.

Bella will get comfortable and put on some in some ear buds and listen to music.

"Shot gun!" Keeyan climbs up in the front passenger seat of the big vehicle. "Actually I think this thing would be fun to drive, but my license wouldn't cover it. Maybe in the future I'll take some time to get licensed for trucks, buses and combat vehicles! And maybe training for fork lifts and cranes. Never know when we might have a job that needs something like that!"

Obviously excited and ready to roll....

Elf Mechanic gives a wave as the group piles into the vehicle. Klyto will be happy to see that it has a pretty easy adjusting lever to push the driving controls closer for Small-sized creatures.

I'll give Klyto a chance to field any last-minute questions before you're off!

Hey, any special features we should know about before we roll out? Bug red buttons we shouldn't push?

"Oh, if a big red button pops out, you should definitely push it," urges the elf.

Keeyan scans the dashboard, "Where's the big red button? It could be fun!?! Turbo boost? Or maybe rocket power? Or weapons!"

Here's hoping. The girls are crashed out in the back so Keeyan, your job is find the manual. You also get music control, unless it sucks, then you get to learn elvish.

"Hmm.... The manual? Sure. It would tell me how to operate things in this vehicle. Maybe even do some maintenance if needed!"

He searches for a latch to open what passes for a glove box and opens it. "Fun! At least two hours worth of reading materials. Now just to adjust the seat to something comfortable for reading...."

Actually a good idea for Keeyan. Keep him busy reading something!

Good call!

It isn't long before they're off, with the two bakers, their daughter, and the elf mechanic are waving them goodbye.

Fecklin handles like a machine half her weight, and a skilled armor smith like himself takes no time in realizing that there are significant portions of the vehicle that are made of mythril beneath the paint.

Which is good, because she's at least twice as much vehicle as most other cars on the road.

The manual is a fresh new tome, entirely hand-written, in the mechanic's surprisingly-steady hand; most paragraphs are duplicated immediately in multiple languages-- English, Spanish, Elvish, Gnomish. It's a slow and perhaps dull read, for anyone not overly-interested in mechanics, but apparently, Fecklin has a number of contingency enchantments and design tricks that will safely see her and her cargo through most any problem aside from, perhaps, a sustained, targeted assault.

Thanks to reading the manual, the party is now better-prepared to handle any vehicle-related emergencies, and I'll let you know if Fecklin has anything on-board to help with anything that pops up.

Fecklin hits I-64 pretty quickly, and stays there for hours before the signs warn that gas stations will be few and far between from this point on; Klyto pulls over to fill the tank. The pump has a slot for coins, and the fuel cap is locked and armored to protect from fireballs and thieves.

Last-chance call for road snacks, healing sodas, requests to stop at a roadside arms-and-armor shop, etc. Otherwise, feel free to roleplay if you'd like and I'll move us into WV soon after!

Bella will step out of the vehicle and stretches ignoring the possible stares of bystanders. Starwing lands on her shoulder chatting in her ear.

"I am going in to use the restroom and get some snacks and drinks. Anybody need anything?"

Keeyan looks up from the book, slowly realizing where he is. He can barely move his legs, which start hurting immediately once he forces them to flex. "Ow! Why do I feel like I'm over a hundred years old! I'm only 85!!! Ow! And I have to go to the bathroom, and maybe get a couple chocolate bars! And a double-sweet mocha latte! Don't drive off without me!!!"

Edie, need anything? I'll wait with the car 'til someone gets back.

With no response from the pink lump Klyto summons up a stick and nudges her from his seat.

Edie? Last bit of civilization for a while. Pop in and grab something if you need it.

Bella will go use the bathroom. Unless something happens there she will go into the store and browse for snacks looking specifically for a brand called Healthy Elf Yummies. She will also pick up some fancy bottled water.

Keeyan comes back from the store with a full bag of Snickers, Corn Crunchies and Cheese Puffs. He also has some paper towels stuffed in to wipe his fingers after he sucks the orange dust (from the Cheese Puffs) off of the tips. The bag 'clanks' a bit when he lowers it to the floor from two bottles of S'Mores Flavor cappuccino. He is sucking on a medium size, iced latte. "Won't have any of these where we're going!"

"Klyto, I'll stay with the vehicle now if you need to go!"

Alright, thanks. Here. Klyto hands Keeyan the quarterstaff. You can try to wake Edie up. I haven't had any luck yet.

Klyto refills the gas tank before heading in. Once he heads in he grabs a mix of sugary junk food and protein/energy bars. He grabs a couple bottles each of soda, water, and Wyvernade.

If Keeyan has no more luck waking Edie up he'll have Wesley sing her awake and invite Starwing to join in.