"I'll go up front with Ethan, no doubt a dangerous position but I want to see what is up ahead." murmured Sister Julia.
Nodding as his friends pick trucks, Borak heads to the third truck. It didn't matter to him where the attack might happen. The first thing he would do is head for sand knowing He could hide in the sand and get close enough to use his blades.
As he climbed into the truck, he quickly checked the interior for anything he could use as a weapon. As he eased into the seat he looks towards his fellow guards, discreetly looking towards whatever weapons they may be carrying, figuring if they died first he could pick up their weapons.
As you drive along the day is coming to and end and your heading to make a camp [These trucks move at just over 2x walking pace. they are that loaded up]
There is a ausable crunch as the back left side wheel mount, on the front truck becomes detached. The sand truck flides to a holt.
The other three trucks stop and the driver gets out to have a look with the guard.
[if anyone wants to join them please do]
Just as you are looking around you think you spot a head pop up way off in the dunes. Then its gone. Maked where it was with a NPC incon
SAND TRUCK STOP MAP at tope of page.
Sister Julia gets out to have a look and she murmurs to those close by, "We are very exposed out here. If someone had a rifle they'd be able to pick us off long before we could get to them."
She tries to gage the reactions of the driver and the guard to see how they're reacting to this. Engineering wasn't her speciality so it was hard to tell what precisely needed to be done to fix the truck but she felt sure she'd be able to read the body language of the men.
Julia you see the wheel unit has been tampered with but that is all.
They do look worried, A Truck Driver says.
"This has been tampered with, look the boults are part cut. Someone fixed this to fail. We will have to jack it up and fit new blots, Its going to take us most of the night."
A Truck Guard Takes you warning Julia and hears what A Truck driver says.
"Drivers bring your trucks around, and get to help fix this. All guards, we make camp tonight."
And they do just that, SEE MAP
"I want 3 guards on top of the trucks. The rest between. No sleep for anyone tonight"
Ok dear players where would you like to be?
Ok dear players where would you like to be?
As the first truck breaks down and the caravan comes to a stop, Borak unloads and joins the others as they observe the damage. Nodding in agreement with the 'sister' he turns with his back to the dune where he noticed the head pop up. Whispering "I beleive we are being observed. I will go check it out."
Moving around the truck, he quickly 'Blends' in with the sand and begins to move toward the dune where he saw the observer.
Sister Julia nods to Borak. She made a show of looking in all directions before breaking line of sight with the ridge line.
It was late so the shadows where long, so very carefully she followed them and worked her way closer to the ridge line. She was happy for Borak to take point but she wanted to be close in case something happened.
As you get to the point where you saw the head up you only find sand track leading to a single wheel track, that heads back the way you came. It seems who ever it was following you.
Cursing under his breath, Borak quickly returns to the others, "We were being followed, but they've left."
Knowing they were expected to put guards on the tops of the trucks, he speaks loud enough for the others guards to hear, "I'm not carrying a range weapon, I'll be more use full here on the ground if we are attacked."
The lead Guard comes over and asks you what you found.
He is looking up at the sky
You like he can all see a storm is coming. While not as bad as the ones beyond the shield wall and there 300mpg+ winds, it will still be bad.
The lead Guard climbs into a truck with a driver and gets on the comms.
He calls his manager who listens to what he says, ending with him being told a big storm is coming and no one is coming to help. They talk over options and form a plane that he stay with the broken truck with your team, and get the working ones to the closest Village.
"Right! Kiric village 20k from here. I want the three working trucks to head there now. You are expected and will be meet there. A Driver and Warehouse geard in each sand truck. The rest of us will stay here and wait the storm out."
They head to the trucks and are soon heading off, as the 1st dust blows come past you. He calls everyone left.
"We are going to stay here, if whoever was after us, comes we make our stand here. So comments, make them now"
He seems to want to hear what others think as he is ware house guard and this is new to him.
Elta sees the man is out of his element and is earnest about getting opinions. Elta then thinks for a moment about how to survive a storm.
After returning, Sister Julia noticed the guard talking on the radio but to her irritation she didn't quite catch what was said.
Before anyone left she asked, "A storm eh? How bad are we talking? Is there anything we can do to protect the remaining sand truck? Like pile a bunch of sand on one side or something?"
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I will let you suggest that before they go
If you strip everything off the other trucks you can get about half of the broken trucks cargo on the three working ones, but it will take just about everyone working on it and about an hour
Elta sees the man is out of his element and is earnest about getting opinions. Elta then thinks for a moment about how to survive a storm.
[dice=Perception]1d20+10
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+10
[dice=Survival]1d20+11
You have 3 options
1: wait it out in the sand truck, this will give you best safety2: put up your tests around the truck and wait it out in them, digging yourself out after, this gives you mid safety from storm as long as your not harried too deep
3: hid in with sand snorkels and try and wait out the storm, that has most ricks from the storm, as you can be berried alive so you may have to did yourself out while in the storm,
How bad can the storm be, think 120mph winds, and this is inside the shield wall
If you have a device that can
Move sand you can build some form of sand pile but it may not last long.
The storm will be fully on you in 1 hour
So you can
1cover truck 1 hour everyone working
2 cover tents, 1/2 hour just you guys
3 make some kinds of defence if you did in, each to there own and good luck
Eng rolls for all
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Seeing the storm in the distance and knowing the rest of the trucks are headed to the nearest village, Borak
is not surprised when the lead guard gives the announcement. As they consider their options, Borak hears the 'Sister's' question, answering softly, "Hear within the shield wall the truck and its interior should be safe, but I don't know if there is enough room for all of us."
He looks around as the other trucks ready to leave, wondering aloud, "Maybe we should move some of the spice in the broken down truck into some of the others?"
”That makes sense…” Kasit mused. ”While we will lose some, we won’t die. And I, for one, can’t buy back a life. Let’s start moving while we still can.”
The leader Guards says
"I and you all have been told by control to Say with this broken trucks driver, and truck. And to send the three working trucks with a wherehouse guard each to the village, it will take them 1/2 hour and we have an hour before the storm hits. Are you saying we should just all leave?"
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"No sir, we are not. We are not saying that at all. We will obey our orders."
"But we also have the ability to do better than our orders. We can load up the three trucks with as much cargo as possible; maybe we even slow them down, maybe it even takes them 45 minutes to get to town, so be it; but they will arrive there with more spice, and they will get there carrying our water debt if we are dead.
"We will not, however, be dead: if we get enough room inside the truck, the truck is almost a structure. We could empty all remaining cargo out of the truck, place it underneath, and then steal ourselves against the storm inside, possibly even erecting tents inside to ensure our survival."
"Getting as much of the cargo delivered as possible does seem like a good idea..." echoed Julia.
He nods his head, happy you have a plan that seems the best.
He tells his men to start adding as much of the cargo, to the other three Sand trucks from the broken down one.
One by one the Sand trucks sets off as they are filled.
A 1/2 hour later as the storm winds start to blow a lot strong its just you, putting the last of the cargo under the Broken truck.
Soon your done and using sand compactors your push sand up to the truck overing the cargo.
As the hour is up and the winds now its too strong to stand in, you all clime into the broken down sand truck and bring down the storm shutters over the windows.
It will be over a day for the storm to pass, so lets roll play being lock in a truck for 24 hours.
over to you my dear players. :)
Having helped unload what cargo they could, moving it to the other trucks and compact the sand up against the truck, Borak climbs into the broken-down vehicle and helps shut the storm shutters. Sitting down between the sister and the lead guard he leans his head back against the truck's cab walls and listens to the storm.
It's not the first storm he and Kasit has sat through in small, cramped quarters waiting for the storm to pass. His mind wanders to the times they were children, then it wanders to the absence of their cousin Ghir. This was the first storm he'd sit through in a small dark chamber without Ghir.
Shaking off the memory he looks up towards Kasit in the small dark chamber, wondering if the space they shared was larger or smaller than the belly of a great worm. Breathing a deep sigh, he asks, "Did anyone bring any spice coffee?"
As preparations were being made for the storm Julia looked around the cramped interior of the sand truck and sighed inwardly, it was going to get hot smelly and bumpy in here. She idly wondered if air was going to be a problem if they got buried in sand. Pushing such thoughts away she checked to see if there was anything inside that might fall if they got buffeted. Her intention being to make whatever it was safe, if it seemed necessary.
As the wind really started to howl and the suspended sand made it too painful to be outside, it occurred to her that she was about to be trapped in a confined space with a bunch of men she didn't know well. More used to the company of her sisterhood, this was deeply uncomfortable and she wondered if anyone was going to be a problem. If so she'd have to disabuse them of such notions.
The driver just beds down in is cab and goes to sleep. The guard looks worried until he gets a coded call form the other trucks saying they had made it to the village. Then he too bed down in the cab on the front seats. Next day coffee is made and simple dried root fruit is handing out. Think a dried sugarbeat.
The driver just wants this over and get paid. This is his truck own by his family. So he is worried having broken down he will not get paid.
The Guard is well out of his depth, he is looking to your team to deal with anything. He is just trying to do his job, it seems he has made the lead guard.
The others are mega respectful, as wild freman are always in the tribe.
there are strict rules on pain of death.
Kasit silently went to work, his face a mask of worry. The tarot card weighed heavily on his mind. Should he keep his mouth shut and risk being a fool through inaction? Should he speak his mind and plan, and lead everyone astray? It felt like he was fated to make some horrible decision and he had no idea how to avoid it…
Julia relaxed fractionally after having come to a decision that the men were likely to behave. Still only the foolish would let their guard down in a situation like this. The storm was a thing to be endured but what of the sabotage and the figure Borak had seen?
Softly to the others Julia said over spice coffee, "How long do you think it will take for our 'friends' out there to act after the storm passes?"
Elta works hard and moves items from one truck to the other. When that is finished he gets into the back of the truck and makes as comfortable space as he can for himself.
He looks to the others in the back with him and smiles. "Well" he says "It looks like we are going to be here for a while. I am going to meditate. I will use less air that way. To bring me out just say 'Elta' and I will awaken."
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Ethan's stance is hard for anyone other than Julia to read; Julia though can see that the sand ninja clearly knows more prana bindu than any man she has ever met. His ki is visible to her seeming to swirl beneath his skin, and there is far far more of it than when they met.
2KI - Forgotten Trick (Esoteric Scholar [KNO ENG])
1MP - Assured Skill [KNO ENG]
HIGHEST = 20
1MP - Assured Skill {PERC]
HIGHEST = 26
Kasit watched the wind blow across the dunes, not so much as to see the majesty of nature. No, rather he watched with a careful eye to better understand what they faced.
As the storm diminish you get ready to open up the truck.
Looking out the top window, you see, sand covering it.
Børak goes to open the door, at the back and starts to open them.
Ok you are just about to open it when you get a bad feeling, something moves just outside the shutters. You can roll play reaching out you you hand and just the other side of the crack in the door is a highly poisonous sand scorpions now making a nesting. It will attack anything close to it, just a scratch is death.
You know that sand scorpions may have come to next in the now sand overed Truck.
As the other are getting out, the static from the comms seems off, you check it and find someone is talking in battle language, its faint but its there.
Seeing Borak go to open the door Sister Julia wared, "Careful. The sand has really built up, its covering the top window."
Cautiously beginning to open the door, Borak senses movement just outside as a small amount of sand pours in. shutting the door, he shakes his head, "Sand scorpions are making a nest right against the door."
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Ok team you can get out the truck, Comms are back up. So you can call base. The other three Sand trucks have took off behind the storm and seem to be making good time. The winds still blowing and there is dust. My feeling is that you can start to dig youself out. Or want for help your call
Sister Julia said, "Well looks we're going to have to dig our way out. I hope all this sand inside doesn't damage the truck."
When they eventually manage to get outside, Julia was one of the first out and she scanned the area, particularly the ridge line, thinking that now was the time when they where most vulnerable if something else should happen.
Pushing open the passenger side door, Borak exits. Nodding in agreement with the sister, "We should dig the truck out, but I'm concerned about the tracks we saw yesterday." He gestures the general direction, "I'll move to the ridge to see if there is any sign of attackers."
Slowly moving to the ridge, he inspects the area, drawing out Ghir's Oil lens binoculars to check the horizon.
”Right…right. Best to get to work then.” Kasit said. ”I’ll start digging. Keep an eye out for me, make sure nothing is approaching while I work.”
You see nothing odd from where you are sister.
Borak As you settle down in your vantage point you don’t see much for 1/2 hour then you spot them 5 sand bikes Comming your way. Looks like two riders on each
Watching the horizon, Borak notices the sand bikes coming towards them. Moving quickly from his location he sprints back to the 'truck' "Five bikes, two riders each, moving this way."
Sister Julia had expected something like this, even so she felt a frisson of fear as the adrenaline kicked in.
With an effort of will she calmed herself and to the driver and the guard she said, "Stay back, we'll deal with this."
She then moved forwards, putting herself in position to try and intercept one of the bikes.
The Driver looks scared, and Guard nods.
Then tells the driver to get back in the truck once he had gone, the guard said.
"One of the other the other guards, more wild than the rest of us said you're true fighters. I did not know what he mean by this, but now I think I do. Go with the suns blessings"
He says and then heads to the truck.
Stopping his work, Kasit pulled out Ghir’s crysknife. ”All it means is that we lived when others didn’t. Let’s hope these riders are uncharacteristically benign. Otherwise…we’ll either prove our reputation and earn their blood price…or we’ll be too dead to care.” His eyes remained fixed ahead as he talked, waiting for the bikers to come into view.