To reach the Outer Junkfields, you must pass through the Rust
District, a generally safe section of rubbish outside Khefak Depot. Junk tour guides have curated the Rust District to provide almost a theme park experience for less adventurous tourists. Though similar to the Caryards, the Rust District apparently doesn’t suffer from a pesky khefak infestation.
Riddle gives you directions and tells you all, “When
you see a tower of refrigerators, that’s the border of the
Outer Junkfields.”
It takes you an hour to walk through the Rust
District from Adventures in Junk. As you make your way, you take note of various landmarks along the way: a small lake of disposable
plastic containers, warped panes of transparent aluminum as
tall as trees, and a tunnel of outdated electronic games. Much
like in the Caryards, these installations are more like modern
art than heaps of trash.
Zetara sees Gath lagging behind as they walk and says
Gath, it looks like some of that stuff is too heavy for you. Why don't you let Uchurtai carry some of it, so you can keep up with us? Good idea, right?
As they walk through the tunnel of outdated games, Zetara keeps her eyes out for Monster Rancher 32, Ribbit King 2, Pokemon Shadow / Pokemon Light (Adventures in the Orre Region), Dragon Quest Builders 5, and several others that she wanted to add to her ancient vidgame collection.
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Sen gestures towards Uchurtai with both hands.
"See what I mean?"
Gath's expression just kind of droops. "Not Toskai? You mean he lied to me? But he showed me Toskai's spear. Do you think he robbed Toskai to get his stuff?"
Zetara sees Gath lagging behind as they walk and says
Gath, it looks like some of that stuff is too heavy for you. Why don't you let Uchurtai carry some of it, so you can keep up with us? Good idea, right?
....
"Yeah!? That would be easier. Uchurtai, would that be OK with you?"
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As they walk through the tunnel of outdated games, Zetara keeps her eyes out for Monster Rancher 32, Ribbit King 2, Pokemon Shadow / Pokemon Light (Adventures in the Orre Region), Dragon Quest Builders 5, and several others that she wanted to add to her ancient vidgame collection.
Zetara does see some very old videogames in a ditch just outside of a landfill.
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Zetara picks up some nice ancient vidgame specimens for her collection, older than she imagined there would be around here, including a copy of Circus Atari, from the ancient Atarian race which seemed to have instituted a kind of worship of vidgames in ancient days. What a find!
Uchurtai pinches the bridge of his nose, "...Toskai's spear. Gath, he...he lied about that too. You can get a spear anywhere. Ach, forget it. Yes, I will carry some of your gear."
Uchurtai gets his enercycle packed up, and a feeling that he hasn't felt in a while glows in his chest. He is excited, truly, to get back into the wilds. The wind in his face, the engine roaring, the plains stretching out around him. Living, truly living.
|
"Well...uh...look at it this way: if it's not Toskai's spear, it's YOUR spear now, so YOU get to make it famous by heroing...and stuff!" Sen says, trying to backpedal from accidentally crushing her friend's hopes and dreams.
As the group departs, she cruises alongside on her zoomboard, trying to keep pace with Uchurtai's enercycle. She does hop off to join Zetara in examining the old vidgames.
"Retro lootz," she comments. "Though honestly, most of this stuff was probably tossed here for a reason...my mom had one of these retro consoles, and the games she insisted I play with her for 'bonding time' were kinda...gib-faced. I always preferred workin' my zoomboard in the garage with an episode of Neon Princess Starpilot on."
All of you, with much credit going to Uchurtai, manage to stay on course for the outer junkyards.
Up ahead you notice something unusual:
Swaths of trash have been pushed away to reveal red, pitted
earth. Tiny bits of plastic float in pools of filthy, standing
water that surround a dark, dry hole ten feet in diameter.
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Neon Princess Starpilot... a good show, but I like collecting ancient vidgames not for their entertainment value necessarily, but because of their historical significance to android origin. Did you know that many of the first android creators were also vidgame worshippers? Although, as you say, many of the first attempts at vidgames were "gib-faced," they were part of the underground movement that led to the pinnacles of achievement that came later. It is fascinating to me that so much could come from so little...
It is at this point that Zetara sees the hole, and, being a healthy degree of paranoid, she assumes that something is likely to come out of it and try to kill them.
She announces to the group the result of her information query:
Pools of water like this are rare on Akiton. It's likely runoff from the garbage piles. These pools usually tend to attract to various insects and vermin.
She looks around for someplace high where she can get set up to shoot anything that comes out of that hole, and spots something that looks like a stable flat surface over on the other side of the hole. She heads that way, taking out her rifle as she moves.
Janebok emerges from her shopping and her flightsuit is no longer visible under her robe. She appears unarmored except for energy pulses barely discernible. She carries a new backpack and is examining a chemical hot pack she has just purchased with great fascination.
Janebok looks at the at the ancient vidgames and cocks her head, turning it to focus on the games with one eye and then the other. "I have heard of these but we do not have them in the Vessskarium. What is the purpossse?"
When Zetara mentions the likely vermin and pests, Janebok nods thoughtfully and takes her rifle off her back to stay ready.
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Some type of toad, or perhaps tailless lizard, predictatably emerges from the hole. What you might not predict is that a second one also crawls out.
They are gray, with bronze, almost metallic, plates across their back.
They seem offended that you have disturbed their gentle repose down in their hole.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue
8. Sen
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Neon Princess Starpilot... a good show, but I like collecting ancient vidgames not for their entertainment value necessarily, but because of their historical significance to android origin. Did you know that many of the first android creators were also vidgame worshippers? Although, as you say, many of the first attempts at vidgames were "gib-faced," they were part of the underground movement that led to the pinnacles of achievement that came later. It is fascinating to me that so much could come from so little...
"Well...thanks? Most people I talk to about it say things like 'Isn't that a kid's show?' or 'Aren't you a little old to be watching that?' Like chek-chek YOU'RE a glinty mucker who looks down your nasal passage at sprogs, so I can safely ignore you, you know?!"
Janebok looks at the at the ancient vidgames and cocks her head, turning it to focus on the games with one eye and then the other. "I have heard of these but we do not have them in the Vessskarium. What is the purpossse?"
Sen's antennae straighten in shock.
"You Veskarium types don't muckin' *play*?!" she exclaims "I'd have thought you coves at least had...like, strategy games and wotsits?"
When the others notate they may be walking into another fight, she hops back on her zoomboard.
"Ah guts, here we go again!"
Uchurtai unslings his weapons and fires off a round from his reaction cannon. His aim isn't great, unfortunately.
Uchurtai's attack narrowly misses one of the aggressive toads.
Locket's eyes dart between Uchurtai and Sen and over to Gath as the trio discuss the authenticity of Gath's purchases.
Noticing Gath's dejection, Locket walks over to his friend and reaches a hand up to rest on his shoulder. Fixing serious, bright eyes on the shobhad's, he murmurs, "We'll take care of it when we get back." He nods once, squeezes his shoulder and steps away.
* * * *
Seeing the lizard-toads emerge from the watering hole, Locket springs into action. "Ohw lw ehjlq,"[/b[ he utters, and a starknife, emblazoned with stylised butterflies, appears in his hand.
With a snap of his wrist, he sends the knife zinging toward the beasties closest to Zetara.
Noting Locket's use of a sharp knife, Gath levels his rifle and lines up a shot on the same monster.
...
Janebok summons some of her magic, directing an energy ray toward the nearest toad.
Locket and Gath land devastating hits on the toad nearest Zetara, but it seems to stubbornly fight on.
The other toad hops forward. Perhaps deciding that Uchurtai and Gath are too big to eat, it instead goes for Sen. A ridiculously long tongue lashes out, attempting to grab hold of her.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red (-1)
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue (-12)
8. Sen (-3)
Zetara climbs up the pile a little bit to get a better sightline, but stops before she hits anything unstable. Then she shoots down at Red using her new super cool sniper rifle.
unfortunately, she hasn't used it enough to really get a feel for it yet.
Zetara misses with her shiny new rifle.
The other toad, though severely injured, hops forward, lashing its tongue toward Zetara.
You can’t use Stealth to hide from the creature grappling you, even if a special ability allows you to hide when you normally couldn’t. If you become invisible, through a Spell or other ability, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your check to escape being grappled, but you receive no other benefit.
You may escape the grapple with a DC 23 acrobatics check--this is a standard action.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red (-1)
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue (-12)
8. Sen (-3)
Janebok fires at the toad in front of her, attempting to deal with it to accelerate aid to Zetara.
"Hells!" Locket mutters as he sees Zetara ensnared by toad's tongue. Trusting his companions to handle the other toad-beast, Locket dashes to Zetara's aid.
Unfurling his kusari-fundo, he sets it spinning as he moves, a trail of flames crackling along its orbit.
Closing on the toad creature, he strikes, seeking to take advantage of its preoccupation with Zetara.
Janebok and Sen scorch the nearby toad, causing it to recoil--at least for the moment.
Locket is not quite as lucky. The tough skin of the toad defeats his weapon.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red (-7)
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue (-12)
8. Sen (-3)
Gath takes a step forward, lines up another shot and fires again.
...
Gath takes a step forward, lines up another shot and fires again.
[dice= shobhad horizon striker, tactical (large) v blue KAC] 1d20 + 1 ... [dice= damage] 2d4
Uchurtai tries to shoot at the lizard again but his shot goes wide…again.
[dice=Attack]1d20+6
Uchurtai tries to shoot at the lizard again but his shot goes wide…again.
The toad near Sen continues to attack.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red (-10)
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue (-12)
8. Sen (-7)
Zetara tries to escape the grapple.
Zetara as she might, Zetara can't quite escape the grip of the toad's tongue wrapped around her.
The toad attempts to continue its grapple of Zetara.
The toad retracts its tongue, perhaps distracted by its wounds.
1. Locket
2. Janebok
3. Uchurtai
4. Gath
5. Enemy red (-10)
6. Zetara
7. Enemy blue (-12)
8. Sen (-7, grappled)
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As his first attack misses the toad-creature, Locket is already adjusting the fiery orbit of his weapon. With subtle shifts of hand, arm and stance, he sends the weighted end shooting put at blue.
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Zetara has an unusual (for an android at least) emotional reaction to being trapped like that, harking back to something she has voluntarily forgotten, and which she does not access from her archives, but it still makes her shake uncontrollably for a moment.
Thank you, Locket.
Dropping the toad-lizard, Locket is relieved to see Zetara extricate herself from the creature's grasp.
His bright eyes fixing on the android's, he simply nods in acknowledgement of her thanks...
...before dashing off toward the rest of his companions. Skirting around the waterhole, he closes in from behind the other critter, hoping to provide some distraction to help his friends.
Seeing Locket finish blue, and hearing Sen's squeak, Gath wheels toward the shirren. He raises his heavy club and drives it down toward the saurian-amphibian.
... (critical -; Analog, unwieldy)
Janebok calmly raises her rifle and fires at near point-blank into the toad.
Sen and Janebok team up, ending the life of the other toad.
You are left with piles of trash, pools of contaminated water, and a 10' wide hole.
Zetara pulls out her hygiene kit to get the stupid frog saliva off her face, and then when she is calm as an android should always be, she says
We are in need of a rope with which to traverse the hole, but I unfortunately am unprepared in that regard. Do any of you have a rope?
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Locket wanders closer to (but not too close) the hole. Craning his neck, he peers into the depths.
Ears flicking, he turns to Zetara. "You want to go down there?" he asks.
Looking at the others, he shrugs and pulls out a coiled length of alloy cable.
"Not going be pretty..." he grumbles.
Gath looks into the hole. "Looks crowded in there. And dark too."
Zetara nods to Locket.
Thank you.
She finds something to attach one end to, and then starts down.
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Among the bones of several small animals (likely small lizards, for the most part), it appears that there is some sort of large case half buried at the bottom of the hole.
In it you find a small fortune in UPB's.
4,000 to be exact.
Vari-13, who had found cover when the toads came out to try to eat you, is happy for all of you. "That looks like a good bonus for all of you, and well-earned."
Flush with your treasure, you head off toward where Vari-13 thinks the Stellar Flare should be.
As you walk around some old rusting iron crossbeams, you hear arguing up ahead...
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...
She finds something to attach one end to, and then starts down.
"I can hold that."
Gath is happy to belay the line for Zetara.
...
As you walk around some old rusting iron crossbeams, you hear arguing up ahead...
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Sen quickly yanks off the dead toad-thing's tongue from her leg.
"EW! EW!! " she says as she wipes off its saliva and stands back up on her zoomboard.
She watches as the others investigate the hole and her antennae perk up at the sight of the UPBs.
"Dear Diary: Jackpot!" she comments.
Upon hearing the arguing, Sen slows her zoomboard to try and quiet the thrusters' hum.
After retrieving the UPBs and the group continuing on until they are aware of a conversation, Zetara focuses in an attempt to overhear the details.