Al also examines the remains after putting his revolver away.
”So…what do we have here? Some sort of security or spying device??
Hmmm... says Zera, too involved in trying to figure out how it works to be very eloquent.
She gathers up all the pieces and tries to repair it enough to get the speakers working again
She doesn't repair the flying mechanism though, if she can recognize it, so that it can't fly away.
Once she has the speakers working (if possible), she says
Well, got the speakers working. If it is a spy or a warning or whatever, maybe it can give us its message now. But it wasn't making any sense before, so I am not so hopeful.
She switches it on, to see if it will do anything but howl. If not, she turns it back off. Even if all it did was make a loud noise, that could be useful in some situations.
"Are there solar panels in the debris? asks Tintoretto. "Sending out flying devices implies that somebody has a reliable energy source."
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Zera gets the speaker working and it seems to be some sort of scanning frequency but it seems like gibberish.
Zera shrugs.
Well, it doesn't look like this is going to give us any insights. I'll work on it more later and see if we can figure it out, but for now, let's keep moving.
You have no reason to believe that the soapy, bubble gizmo ran on solar power or had solar panels on it.
You backtrack to where you were just before you engaged the bubble and you continue on the way that Vigan was directing you. You follow her instructions and continue through the forest and then after two hours you come across a plain that seems to be filled with purple and orange grasses about 6 feet high.
Tintoretto will telepathically scan over the plain, looking for intelligent minds.
GM Rolls
Tinteretto [spoiler] You did not have any success scanning for intelligent life.
You continue for another hour through the field and you stumble upon man sized bird with grey feathers and a white plume. The man-bird sees you and says, "Could any one of you folks help me out. I think I have broken my and I cannot fly home."
I have no means of healing your arm, but would be happy to help you get it immobilized so you can travel to a doctor.
Tintoretto will do a quick scan of the bird-man's emotions to see if there's any deception here. He feels bad about it, but this grass would be good for an ambush.
Still, he's sympathetic. ::That's awful. Was it an accident or did something attack you?::
The bird man says, "My name is Whur. I live near the river about three miles from here. I was attacked by a group of Hoops. They hit me with a bludgeon."
::Three miles wouldn't be a problem. We'll help you get there and be on the lookout for Hoops.:: He'll make small talk as Zera binds the wing.
Over the course of the conversation, he'll ask if his village has had problems with the hoops or is this a new threat. He'll ask if the village is all like him or is it mixed. Do they know about the drone we found and are there more? He'll also ask what they know of the area around the Enstoot.
Whur says, "The hoops kind of jumped out of a tree when I was eating a worm. I do not live in a village, I am more transient as it were. I have heard that there is an enstoot somewhere northeast of here but the Ancients' things ought to be left alone."
P'Reena watches carefully around the area while Zera does her work. She is certain that this is an ambush waiting to happen.
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The injured bird man named Whur says, "Wow, you'all might could be new to being outside. Well, they are mutated rabbitoid who are 8 feet tall ad they can supposedly turn metal into rubber."
Metal into rubber? That doesn't seem like a very good change, unless the metal was too sharp I guess. ... I thought rabbitoids were pacifists. I guess I was wrong though if they attacked you.
She finishes immobilizing the arm/wing and says
Okay, can you move well enough to walk now? As Tintoretto said, we'll escort you home.
She stays wary for an ambush as they travel though, knowing that there were many mutants who hunted others even if they didn't run into giant rabbitoids.
Tintoretto will scan again for minds as they travel.
Whur says, "I generally stay away from the things from the Ancient except maybe some nograin on the other hand some of that stuff can be brittle."
He walks with his squat birdie legs and it forces the party to move at half its normal speed.
GM rolls
After about twenty minutes since you starting making your way to the nearest rive, supposedly Whur's home, you hear from out of the bushes, 'Stop, why are you moving through our lands?'
And what you can see are what looks to be a fairly large group of humans upwards of 20, mostly mutated and their leader who has a waxed mustache and a nice looking gun.
Hi, we're escorting this injured sentient back to his home, which he claimed was this direction. We don't intend to stay or use any of your resources.
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Tintoretto adds, ::To give thanks for peaceful passage, we have information about a threat in the area. Our new friend was attacked by a group of hoops. Forewarned is forearmed.::
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P'Reena's grip tightens on her weapon, but she does not make any aggressive moves.
Zera smiles, but she also looks quickly around to see if there is a nice rock she can teleport above the leader's head, and if they need to run what the best escape options are.
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The leader looks back at his compatriots and says, 'Those hoops are quite a nasty bunch. They try to destroy all metal objects. Please move quickly, there are other dangers, be careful there are hissers in the area." he then gives some hand signals to his hunting party and moves off into the forest.
As they move on, Tintoretto will periodically scan for new minds. but he feels very good about resolving the last one one peacefully.
You continue following Whur's directions and after about an hour you get to the river and he walks into the river and then changes into a fish man instead of a bird man where he has stubby legs and a fish like tail with gills.
He then swims to edge and says, "Thank you for your help. I cannot turn into a bird for awhile, but I will be fine."
Okay, take care of yourself then, farewell.
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::Ooh, what an interesting ability. Stay safe!::
Vigan checks your bearings and the terrain of the river with that of your map and realizes to herself that maybe you have been going in a more circuitous route than you would have wanted and then corrects the line of march.
You leave the river's area and travel through two distinct areas where the countryside is barren without any life whatsoever, this marching takes another two hours. Then it starts to get green again. You believe as long as your map is correct that you have just wandered into the area of Lance Swamp. After another ten minutes, you can see a makeshift village that could house about 100. The buildings are from the times of the ancients but who ever occupies them are at a far lower level of advancement than you are. The buildings are mostly missing rooves, the soft rock is crumbling and wooden walls have been sagging due to rain. Where holes have appeared they have been plugged up with cloth.
In the distance, a small group of snake men have surrounded a man. You watch horrified as one strikes him and knocks him to the ground. The snake man draws a whip and starts to flay the cowering man.
Not knowing if the snake men have a reason for the bullying, but feeling for the human, Zera raises her voice and starts forward, bow in hand, but not raised threateningly.
What's going on here? Is there a reason for this violence?
::Ah, but the lady has spoken. We are involved one way or another.:: he says, preparing to hoist his brick. ::And we have bene informed of some antisocial groups in the area.::
As your group approaches and one of the snake men look towards Zera, the rest of the snake men seem to pay you no mind and hit the man on the ground and you see one of them brandishing a revolver. At that point, the cowering man cries out "Stop! In the name of peace and brotherhood, stop hitting me!" he places both of his palms on either temple on his head and you hear make unearthly grunt 'Wallllllllllllllllllllllllllluuuuuuuunnnnnnghhhhhh!"
And with that you stare incredulously as the snake man drops the whip. All rest of the four snakemen hiss and writhe in agony. Their arms shrink and vanish. Their heads flatten and their eyes lose that glint of sentience. The bodies start to shrink and finally there are only four large garden snakes left and they slither off into the bush.
P'Reena is caught off-guard by the sudden change in the one-sidedness of the battle.
After a moment, the turtle pokes his head out again. ::Was that your power? I consider it self defense, but I'd feel better if you admitted it."
Zera, seeing that the man doesn't actually need help with the battle, continues to approach, but much more slowly, really really glad that she wasn't in range of whatever power that was. It was an amazing one, but not one that she wanted to be a part of... it was self-defense, as Tintoretto said, but to remove sentience? That was possibly worse than death.
She calls out
Hello. Are you injured? Can we help?
As you get closer you see that he is wearing robes and he has a beard.
He says, "Yes, I had hoped they would just leave me be but I had no choice to devolve them. Once I saw the revolver, I realized that my life would have been forfeit if I did not defend myself. Thank you for coming by to help. My name is Artemus, what are yours? I have a few scrapes but nothing that a little rest won't fix."
I'm Zera. It looks like you can defend yourself easily, so you don't need the help, but since we're here, maybe you could tell us a little bit about the area?
She moves forward to pick up the revolver and anything else that they were carrying that they dropped when they devolved.
Do you want the revolver?
She wants to make sure that she isn't taking anything that he lays claim to, but no reason to waste.
He looks at you and says, "Well met ladies and gentlemen... I was on my way to Jainus because the brothers of my Triad were killed by members of the Knights of Genetic Purity. I am on my way back to Jainus to recruit more to form a triad or if I be really lucky a Quad. I have never been to this area before but I was attacked as I walked through. I didn't know that the Hissers were in this area... I will definitely mark that on the maps of my Brotherhood. I am a member of the Brotherhood of Thought... Are any of you members of my Brotherhood?"
Where did you meet the Knights? We'll want to stay well away from them.
Artemus takes out his compass and shoots an azimuth in the direction through the hisser village.
He then says, "In that direction. Would any of you be interested in the Brotherhood of Thought? We try to spread peace throughout Meriga."
It was odd how this person pronounced his affiliation so quickly. That tends to confront opponents quickly. He suspected that some in the city knew that he was working with a group. But by the time they figured it out, they knew him and he knew them.
"Oh I do hope for a more peaceful world. I do what I can to show that people helping each other makes us all stronger. Sadly, there are others who will not be swayed by cooperation. I have not heard of one of the Purists being swayed by peaceful means."
He's interested in Artemus' reaction to this. He'll look for his surface emotions. He's also interested in the reactions of his allies to this, but it would be rude to pry into companions.
Zera nods at the hope for peace. It certainly sounded nice. She doesn't however volunteer to join the Brotherhood of Thought.