Umbrae Europae [IC] (part 3) - Mist of Nycthemeron, A third installment of the Umbrae Europae Campaing (started elsewhere) Options

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

No, I'd have to stay in astral a bit to long for my taste, but if the drone needs help to extract itself, I can send a lower force spirit to help it out

Rex had kept quiet with his eyes open to the astral in regular intervals, otherwise following the shared feed through the AR.
<<That looked like a nasty fall. It's not yet too close to the mist, do you think I should send a Kami to pick it up?
I could even have the spirit fly the drone closer to the mist. That would shorten the walk and save some energy.>>

[Haywire]

#48[\b]

"Well, a Levitation could help, but I'll try to pull it out myself first...

[ Spoiler ]

Pilot Walker: 8d6t5 [b]2
[\spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

Summoning Spirit of Man F3
Spirit of Man F3: 22d6t5 9
Spirit of Man F3 resist: 3d6t5 0
Drain resist: 21d6t5 10

4 services
Optional power: Concealment

Improve Logic Spell on Waywalker
F8 Improve Logic: 20d6t5 11
Resist drain: 21d6t5 5
No Drain

Adding Logic up to Waywalker's augmented maximum

<<Wait, let me help you a bit with your concentration.>>
With a touch of his nose, Rex imparted a spark of magic to enhance Waywalker's piloting performance - but not before he called up a small Kami.

Since he knew where the drone was, it was quite easy to tell the spirit to use his concealment on himself and the drone and carry it as close to the mist and the village as the Kami dared. When this was done he was dismissed.

[Jack_Spade]

A bit sarcastic Waywalker answered: <<Thanks for the boost, but that only helps me to see that I'm a bad pilot with a walker drone.>>

Rex had to admit that strengthening Waywalker's hand-eye-coordination would have been better. Unfortunately he didn't know how to cast this spell.
So he did the only other thing he could do for his friend:
<<You are not a bad pilot. You are just new to this stuff. Every step you take, you learn something. Take a moment to look around, plan your next step consciously and then the next. Let it flow from there. Just a bit of concentration and don't get overconfident - in this stage it's when you get familiar with your gear when you start to make mistakes.>>
Rex figured, that Waywalker would also benefit from a better understanding of his control hardware, so he used the little divination spell that was so useful for his focus on his Control Rig.

[ Spoiler ]

Leadership test: Leadership: 13d6t5 3
3 bonus dice for Waywalker
Dropping Increase Logic
Trying to improve his gear with Anaylse Device: F8
Anaylse Device: 20d6t5 7[20d6t5=1, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 1, 3, 5, 1, 6, 5, 3, 4, 6, 2, 5, 1]
Object Resistance: 15d6t5 5

2 bonus dice for Waywalker

Drain Resist: 21d6t5 7
No Drain

[Haywire]

#49

"Well, thank you for your kind words. I'm sorry if I snapped, I'm a bit tense. Let's make this work."

[ Spoiler ]

Pilot Walker: 13d6t5 4
[\spoiler]

[Romain Pelisse]

Giving an other try at it, Waywalker finally manages to dig the drone leg out of the narrow space it got itself stuck in. Immediately, the rigger makes the walker runs to beneath a nearby tree, while using it sensor to assert if the mishap somehow triggered the intention of a nearby drone...

[ Spoiler ]

@Waywalker, can you roll a Perception test - with the drone Sensor attribute ?

[Haywire]

#50

"Let's see if we're lucky..."

[ Spoiler ]

I'll have my Agents monitor the Matrix for signs of activity.
teamwork test from Sekretar: 6d6t5 2
matrix perception (Deck Agent): 14d6t5 6
electronic warfare (scanning for signals): 21d6t5 12 (Sadly, limit is 4).
[\spoiler]

[Romain Pelisse]

Scanning the surrounding, helped by its agents, Waywalker is rapidely reassured. None of the drone of the network monitoring the Mist has noticied the Nestor unit. At least, it is for now safe from that....

[ Spoiler ]

You forgot the simple Perception + Intuition [Sensor] test to see what Waywalker can see/hear around the drone!

[Romain Pelisse]

[ Spoiler ]

To the eventual reader, I was wrong, Waywalker can use Electronic Warfare instead of Perception

Checking the numerous telemetry coming from the drone's sensor array, Waywalker realizes there is two (meta)human, with no electronics moving in the woods he found shelter, just dozen meters away from the Nestor. Even if the night has yet to fall, the density of woods, added the shade cast by the huge wall of Mist, now only a few kilometer away from his current position, makes it impossible for the rigger to know more about the duo.

He awaits for an instant, if he can figure out where those two are ahead, but they appear to be right now, hiding behind trees, try to be immobile...

[Haywire]

#51

"Rex, there is a little complication. I detected two humanoids figures hiding from our drone. I cannot decipher their intentions, and I'm sending a Rotodrone hurried to defend Nestor, just in case. Maybe you want to check them in the astral?"
After sendig the message he leaved Nestor's dog brain instruction to defend himself and not engage hostiles and jumped in one Rotodrone, hurrying.

[ Spoiler ]

Dog-brain comprehension: 10d6t5 5
Pilot Rotodrone: 14d6t5 6
[\spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

<<I'm on it, but to maintain contact with you, I'll send a Kami to check it out.>>

Rex concentrated and called on the Daughter of the Morning Mists, who - if nothing else - should at least be able to get into proximity of this mystery mist.

[ Spoiler ]

Task spirit R6

Summon R6 Task Spirit: 20d6t5 6
Resist R6 Task Spirit: 6d6t5 1
Resist Drain: 21d6t5 6
No Drain

Spirit has Sneak and Concealment
Spirit Sneak: 12d6t5 8
and -6 to perception for any observer

The call is answered promptly and on Rex' request the whisp like creature makes its way towards the place Waywalker has shown him, while also moving with the utmost care not to be detected.

[Romain Pelisse]

Rex's Kami manifests nearby Waywalker's drone position, as a patch of fog - the perfect disguise to blend in, and somehow oozes toward the two hidden figures. Soon after, the spirit informs his summoner that two metahumans, an ork and human, are apparently hiding behind some trees, indeed a few meters away from the now standing still, and also hidden, Nestor unit.

"Both are males, oh my liege, who yields the power of Mana, and both are quite tense. None appears to be suspicious of my presence, a few meters away from them. Also, none of them are awakened. The both wears simple clothes. One appears to have a sort of fire-stick in his hands, the other hold one of those pistols, you metahumans appears to be so found of. The ork one also carries a large bag, that he is holding against his chest. I can feel in his aura he cares about the content of thus bag, but he is also, like his companion, very worried to be spot..."

[ Spoiler ]

It seems we are mixing the color code (or I recall it wrong). I though we said something down the lines of:

• red - for dialogues
• blue - for electronic exchange
• green - for mental communication (such as spirt/summoner) one

Also, I've noticed we don't always use the same tense. I tried to stick to present, but if you prefer to use past, let me know - but let's all stick to the same one (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) !

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

Rex uses direct speech rather infrequently (being a dog most of the time), but my code looks like this:
"Direkt Speech"
<<Matrix or micro transceiver based communication>>
'Thinking or giving mental commands'
"Communication on the Astral (being a mix between thinking and speaking)"

<<Looks like there are two other looters around. They carry something in a bag with them and are worried to be detected. On the off chance that they are after the same thing as we are, do you think we should apprehend them and interrogate them? The Kami could wrestle one to the ground and move him up into the air, so the other will think twice about shooting at her. He should be responsive to a few questions then.>>
Rex forwarded to Waywalker the information he just received.

[Haywire]

#52

"I think that is a good idea - the Rotodrone should be there in a matter of minutes to give her some help if things go south."

[ Spoiler ]

We agreed on red -dialogue; green - electronic communication; blue - thoughts and the like.
I'll go with present tense, ok!
[\spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

Through his mental connection, Rex told the Kami:
'Sneak up on the one with the bag, grapple him and carry him into the air as soon as I tell you to. We want to question them.'

[ Spoiler ]

Kami: Unarmed Attack: Subduing

Unarmed Attack: 12d6t5 5
If they are surprised there is no defense and the STR 8+5 successes easily beats his Physical limit.
As movement, the spirit flies upward his full movement allotment of 12 m

I'll leave it to the drone to use speakers to tell them we want to talk.

[Romain Pelisse]

[ Spoiler ]

Is the mist smuggler surprises?: 7d6t5 2 (yes, he is, no defense)

Sidenote: you are still a good 10km away from the mist, the background count is negligible, but next time you are doing magic, I'll have to give you the associated penalty.

Suddenly, a arm made of manifest bolt in the direction of the ork with the bag, grab him with an incredible strength, and yanks him into the sky! The poor fellow, now flying just above the tree line, around ten meters away from the ground floor, can not resist the urge to scream, before calling his partner in crime for help:

"Marc!!! Aide moi !!!"

The partner in crime hesitates for a split second before bolting in the opposite direction of the patch of Mist, and yelling:

"C'est ta faute, mec, je t'avais ce coin était hanté ! T'avais qu'à m'écouter!"

(Apparently, Marc has indeed decided to keep up with a long tradition of the french military, started in '39 with the (in)famous "Alliance de revers" with Poland, where France, as all, stayed firmly behind its border, while Germany was invading Poland... )

In the panic of being grabbed and throw in the sky, the ork left his bag fall all the ground. It is no difficulty for Nestor or even Rex's Kami to see that the content is mostly herbs, rocks, crystal... Rex would have to get closer to evaluate the merchandise, but there is most likely only a few dram worth of reagents here.

[Haywire]

#53

Looking at the scene through the feed from the Nestor, Waywalker jumped in the anthropomorfic drone and ordered the Rotodrone to return at the base.
Waiting a moment to re-assess himslelf in the new drone Waywalker spoke through the drone in English:
"We do not want to harm you. Have you been in the Mist?"

[Jack_Spade]

<<You might want to use your translator soft - I don't think those guys speak English.>>
Rex sent to Waywalker.
<<It seems as if they are collecting alchemically potent herbs and such - which is curious since neither of them looked awakened. Which implies that they are the helpers of a mage or alchemist that is close by. We should hurry.>>

[Romain Pelisse]

Still being dangle over the tree line, the ork is pretty surprised to be suddenly addressed by a somewhat robotic voice coming from below him:

"Hein? Quoi? Qu'est ce que... ?"

Stop in mid sentence, he then goes:

"Pleeaase.... Lette Me Goo !!!!"

Rex order his spirit to slowly put the ork back on the ground, but not let his grip go.

[ Spoiler ]

Railroading you Rex, I hope you don't mind... BTW, this order does NOT count for a services

Catching his breath, the ork takes a moment before talking again:

"Who are you ? What do you want ? Please let, me go! You can take my stuff if you want, but let me go!!!"

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

It's fine, I don't really want to hurt the guy.

Rex asked the Kami to submit his answers for him:
"It is very dangerous to go into these wilds. We aren't interested in you or what you have collected though. But would you be so kind and tell for whom exactly you work and who else is out here?"

[Haywire]

#54

"As I said before, we mean no harm on you. Please answer the questions asked."

[Romain Pelisse]

Sitting on the ground, a bit looking like a punished ork kid, and still entangled by the Kami's misty arms, the prisoner looks a bit pathetic, and it takes a few instants for him to grasp the situation. But soon, he replies to the runners:

"Euh... I .. I... Err, I guess "we" ? We don't work for anybody! Marc and I were just here to collect some stuff that local druids appreciate. They generally don't buy all we bring them, but most of it. We did not mean any harm... And we are sure not here to pick up a beef with... whoever you are!"

He pauses and realizes that his buddy, Marc, is long gone now, and decides thus to drop the "we":

"As far as 'who else' is out there, I'm not sure what to tell you. Nearby the Mist it is for sure "inhabited" by ... things. I guess, the Korrigans are, you know, "checking things out", but I've run into any of them.... Well, I did catch a glimpse of a Pixie, once... I think... There is plenty of drone from the High Council too, but those are mostly hovering nearby the border. Now, we are too far away and too small to be noticed by them."

The ork scratches his head, before going on:

"My buddies who have a bit of Talent, always tell me to stick to the treeline and try to be as discreet as possible to not ... How do they say ? Trigger the anger of the local spirit. Some of them tell me that there is even other spirit, sent by the druids also patrolling the area, but those are ordered to monitor the mist, more than people like Marc and me..."

He stops, waits for a second and then say:

"So..... I am good, right ? I can go, now ?"

[Jack_Spade]

"Yeah, move along and don't forget your stuff." Rex sent through is Kami and allowed the orc to get up again.

[Haywire]

#55

The robotic voice of Nestor spoke through the speakers: "You are good to go, and remeber you did not see anything today."
Not waiting for the guy to hurry up, Waywalker continued the drone's march to the Mist.

[Jack_Spade]

Through the mental connection, Rex told the Kami: "Thank you for your help. Please accompany the drone to the village as far as you safely can - maybe even carry it for swifter travel. When you feel it is no longer safe for you, set it down carefully and come back to me."