PASSION:
8
BRAVERY:
8
FRIENDSHIP:
12
Robin
is Offline
Posts: 32
|
Aug 25, 2017 4:26:48 GMT -7
Post by Ezra Oak on Aug 25, 2017 4:26:48 GMT -7
“I’m heading into the Wasteland again and I need someone who can guide the car so it doesn’t get stuck in the sand.” Ezra had said, as though his request for Alicia’s help was obvious and already settled. When he began walking away towards the car, the unstated request and assumption were the same. He’d actually ordered and not stolen the car this time. After the deduction from his paycheck for the last car he’d “lost” - it wasn’t his fault the thing wasn’t made to deal with sinking sand, he’d argued, plus it’d been a group effort, but the clerk with too little sleep to even bother calling someone with a more important title to talk to wasn’t having any of it - he decided the most efficient course of action was to fill out with paperwork and just bypass the clerks that weren’t going to listen to him anyway. It saved him time, it saved the organization time, and everyone was happy as long as no one brought up that he’d still yet to come up with any solid results. The problem was, if the car did end up food for another pit of sand, again, he had good reason to doubt Alicia and he would be able to wrench it back out. It wasn’t for lack of strength in the two of them, just an honest admittance that sand was really heavy and good at filling in holes. As such, they needed more people, and as such the nearest assumed surveyor (the man was tall and had an educated air about him - he was therefore probably smart and would be good to have along) was grabbed by the wrist as Ezra stated, “We’re going into the Wasteland and need another person. Deal is a third of the credit goes to you.” and continued walking. Ezra had climbed into the driver’s seat without statement and offered the same place they’d set off from last time as a starting place, given they had some idea of what was there and what not to drive on. Maybe a bit dull and a lot rocky, but better than running face-first off a cliff the wasteland decided to materialize out of nowhere. "So, Alive Planeter," Ezra began, turning to Alicia, "think the last car's still there, or do you think the Wasteland's eaten it too? Turned it into more sand to fuel itself or something?" Kaito Iwakiri Alicia Johnson
|
|
|
PASSION:
10
BRAVERY:
7
FRIENDSHIP:
11
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 43
|
Aug 25, 2017 8:25:34 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Aug 25, 2017 8:25:34 GMT -7
Alicia had taken to loitering around the Surveying Association's building for awhile now. She still wasn't quite ready to commit to joining them - after all, she still had 3 more years of school and commitment was scary - but that didn't mean that she didn't get some value from hanging around them, even if she couldn't make use of most of their services. There were often people looking for groups to go exploring, and going in groups took the edge of off it all. Sure, it was still scary when someone got eaten by the wasteland, but it was still better than wandering around alone. Plus, most of those people had interesting stories to tell and were fun to talk to even if they didn't want her to tag along on her expeditions.
This time, a familiar person offered to let her come along again, which she was happy to accept. It was time to see if the wasteland would find a new and hilarious way to eat another car.
As always, Alicia made a point of coming prepared. Plenty of extra water, and some even frozen so it'd melt during the trip, a good number of snacks, including things like watermelon that would help cool them down, and this time she even brought some freshly baked cookies for morale. They were warm, so it was perhaps not ideal, but they smelled pretty good. She brought way too much of everything, so when it turned out that another person was joining in, she wasn't all that concerned. This is why it was important to be prepared.
"I can't say I know that much about the wasteland's car preferences," she shrugged as she climbed into the passenger seat like she did last time. She turned towards the third member of the group. "What do you think new guy? Does this car look tastier than the others?"
|
|
|
PASSION:
9
BRAVERY:
11
FRIENDSHIP:
8
Einws
is Offline
Posts: 8
|
Aug 25, 2017 21:39:48 GMT -7
Post by Kaito Iwakiri on Aug 25, 2017 21:39:48 GMT -7
"Uh-huh," Kaito answered as he was essentially detained and dragged toward the vehicle in question. He found himself in a passenger seat before having the chance to really process what was going on or where he was. By the time the engine turned and the vehicle started rolling, it was too late to voice a complaint and he quietly resigned himself to being kidnapped. By children. When he had armed himself and gathered his equipment to start poking around the Surveying Association's headquarters, this wasn't what he had expected to find awaiting him. He had been warned about the dangers of both the Jungle and the Wasteland; he had not been warned about the gangs of delinquent students that apparently preyed upon newcomers. On the plus side, raw confusion did a pretty good job of keeping the terror at bay, especially when his two fellow adventurers began discussing whether or not their last car had been eaten.
Shaking his head, Kaito turned his attention to the young woman, "I can tell you with absolute honesty that I have never tasted a car. However," he thumped on the door with a fist, "this car almost certainly looks tastier than average. After all, it is a pleasant blueberry color -- most of the cars that come down this way are probably tan, or tinted so by the blowing sand." He nodded sagely to himself, "After all, sand can't be all that interesting to a place that is literally made up of sand." After a moment's consideration, he leaned across his seat to offer Alicia his hand, "Oh. And I am Kaito Iwakiri. Pleasure to join you, and your insane friend." Kaito knew he was going to get blamed when they all ended up dead, since this was almost certainly a situation where he should have been the chaperone.
|
|
|
PASSION:
1
BRAVERY:
1
FRIENDSHIP:
1
Lurk Cat
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 200
Profile
|
Aug 27, 2017 3:25:01 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Aug 27, 2017 3:25:01 GMT -7
Expedition of day 58 New Sumatra lies on a flat area in the middle of the wasteland. The area is firm, but covered in a thick layer of sand. The only signs of life are directly around the city, where there are several mines and large fields of solar panels. Beyond that, there's no plants, no animals, and not even any movement. No wind blows, no water flows, there aren't even any insects. The entire area is completely silent, save for the sound of the explorer's footsteps. At the edge of the plateau the city is on, the land gently slopes downward. The angle is gentle, there are stairs in the city steeper than the slope. It has a few small rocks on it, but is otherwise just a pile of sand. The sand is thicker on the slope than it is on the plateau, making it more difficult to walk on. In the distance, other plateaus like the one the city is on can be seen, and the plateaus come in various sizes. But there's no signs of life on any of them, and it looks like they only have more sand to offer. There's nothing notable about this place so far. There's only the hope that something better is out there, and that maybe there's a clue about how the wasteland came to be hidden under the sand. --- The party has 80 energy No one is injured You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
|
|
|
PASSION:
8
BRAVERY:
8
FRIENDSHIP:
12
Robin
is Offline
Posts: 32
|
Aug 27, 2017 21:48:26 GMT -7
Post by Ezra Oak on Aug 27, 2017 21:48:26 GMT -7
“What, does the blue paint make it taste like blueberries or something?” Ezra grumbled, setting the car rolling forward and quickly picking up speed. When something else Kaito had said struck him.
“I’m insane?” Ezra’d done little more than set the car down the slow slope, following an old set of tracks headed down and away from home, when he turned around in his seat, more interested in proving his point with eye contact than watching where he was navigating the moving vehicle. He did at least take his foot off the gas. Nodding his head towards Alicia (as one was on the top of the seat and the other was on the wheel), he counted, “She’s the one who thinks the world is alive and capable of eating people.”
The problem was, the man sounded like he agreed. His response certainly had not been an outright denial of what was obviously an absurd idea. Ezra narrowed his eyes on the man who was older and therefore should have some degree of common sense.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those alive planeters too.” He said with a low voice, somewhat broken by the shaking of the car. “I thought they were just a small sect of textbook annihilators on the internet that had one chat room and a severe lack of biology knowledge. Or grasp of the facts. Is this crack theory spreading?!” He was more than a little alarmed by this notion. Bad ideas could spread like wildfire given a loud person and a small, cobbled together semblance of logic - one could figure that out after an hour on the internet - but he had had faith that people would be able to see this theory was the logical equivalent of car parts duct taped together and then lit on fire.
“Am I going to wake up next week to a group of people worshiping the living planet as a god? You going to start sacrificing people the week after to fill in one of this theory’s biggest holes, how the hell the whole planet’s supposed to subsist off of a small dot of what’s at all recognizable as ‘life’, so our ‘guardian planet’s life force’ doesn’t flicker out and die?”
---
Move: Left Skill: Careful Appraise
|
|
|
PASSION:
10
BRAVERY:
7
FRIENDSHIP:
11
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 43
|
Aug 28, 2017 7:02:51 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Aug 28, 2017 7:02:51 GMT -7
Normally she would have been more inclined to deny that she thought the planet was alive, if only because of the unsavory people that tended to think like that, but, for one, she did it last time they ventured out into the wasteland, and for two, the other guy seemed to understand completely. So, there was no need to do it this time. Everyone understood what was going on, and if Ezra was as clueless as he was acting, he could probably use a little bit of needling. It had to be unhealthy to take life that seriously.
"I have to agree," she nodded at Kaito. "We should be especially cautious...But..." she paused for effect, "Maybe we should see if this caution is warranted and see if the car tastes as we expect. Hey you," she looked back towards Ezra. "Why don't you do it? I mean, do it for science. The two of us clearly don't care about science or facts, so it seems only logical that you should be the one to do it."
Alicia nodded sagely with an obvious edge of satisfaction, folded her arms, and righted herself in her seat so she could look forward. If the driver wasn't going to watch where they were going, it seemed like a good idea for someone to do it. Those stealth rocks wouldn't dodge themselves after all.
---
((As always, I will not be participating in any discussion because I know too much. I'll just put down a skill and if you guys want me to use a different one I'll change it.)) Skill: Guide
|
|
|
PASSION:
1
BRAVERY:
1
FRIENDSHIP:
1
Lurk Cat
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 200
Profile
|
Aug 29, 2017 4:17:18 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Aug 29, 2017 4:17:18 GMT -7
The land around the city is sturdy, but soft. Once the land starts to gently slope downwards the sand becomes thicker, making the explorers sink into it more than they had prior. Some spots had the occasional bit of harder rock, or even a rocky cliff face, but it was uncommon. The terrain doesn't change much, and gradually the sinking feeling with every movement becomes normal, expected.
It makes it so sinking just a little bit further than expected takes longer to notice. It makes it so a patch of softer sand around some rocks hidden under the sand is nigh invisible to the senses until the explorer is in too deep. Underneath this part of the wasteland lies a cave, and while most of it is covered in rock, there are clear holes in the ceiling barely held together with sand. Even sinking into it isn't enough to make to make all the sand fall given how fast it happens. The cave system is fairly straight forward and easy to get out of, the exit can be seen a fair distance away, but it's a good distance from the sinkhole, and it's not clear where it leads.
---
Splitting terrain feature was successfully bypassed Loot from this room: 1 Total loot so far: 1
The party has 65 energy No one is injured
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
|
|
|
PASSION:
10
BRAVERY:
7
FRIENDSHIP:
11
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 43
|
Aug 30, 2017 11:06:30 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Aug 30, 2017 11:06:30 GMT -7
It wasn't too hard to watch where the driver was going because the car was moving so slow. Alicia wasn't sure if it was because of the driver, the sand, or a combination of both, but it hardly mattered here. She kept her eyes firmly forward, looking carefully at the sand for any stealth rocks. This expedition didn't need to be a repeat of the last one. It didn't take long for her to notice something off, though she wasn't quite sure what it was. She just went with the most obvious option as a guess.
"HOLE!"
Alicia didn't bother waiting for the driver to react. Instead, she lunged towards the wheel and used her whole body to push the wheel to the left to avoid the hole. The turn would probably be a bit sharp because she wasn't sure how hard she was going to have to fight the driver, but it was probably better than falling into a hole.
---
Skill: Guide
|
|
|
PASSION:
8
BRAVERY:
8
FRIENDSHIP:
12
Robin
is Offline
Posts: 32
|
Aug 31, 2017 1:19:28 GMT -7
Post by Ezra Oak on Aug 31, 2017 1:19:28 GMT -7
Ezra felt ignored. Alicia had been so quick to engage last time, but now she was going off on what, why he should taste the car? He couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a joke or an insult. It felt like both. No response meant there was no opposition to his points, but it just felt… empty. He was just ranting to air at this point, wasn’t he?
Not that that should matter. It meant he was right as far as anyone was able to tell and there was no need to prove further what was already obvious and really he didn’t understand why he was feeling a little let down. He turned back to facing the direction the driver probably should, but he was paying about as much attention to the land ahead of him as a tired student trying to skim through two dozen pages before class starts.
“I don’t give two rats assess what the car tastes like.” He grumbled stiffly. “I’m not going to lick a car because you want to know if its taste is going to increase its chances of being eaten by the wasteland, because I don’t think the wasteland is capable of consuming vehicles. If either of you want to give ‘science’ a go, be my-”
This time, the stealth rocks had nothing on Alica. Her shout and the abduction of the wheel took him by enough surprise that resistance didn’t come until after a startled shout, a startled shout turned into an angered shout, and the realization that there was a gaping hole in the sand narrowly avoided to their side. Ezra stomped on the gas, adding an abrupt stop to a sharp turn.
Once he was sure they weren’t falling and everything had stopped rocking, he set the car to ‘forward’ again. And began paying real attention to the land in front of them.
“Also, Sparkle Jeans, my name isn’t ‘hey you’. It’s Ezra.” He gave her a brief wary look, half expecting another hole or cliff at any moment and for the same tactic of avoidance to be used again. “Why’re you wearing those, anyway? Looks to me like you’re wasting money - this isn’t the proper application of the phrase ‘wealth attracts more weath’.”
---
Skill: Careful Appraise
|
|
|
PASSION:
1
BRAVERY:
1
FRIENDSHIP:
1
Lurk Cat
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 200
Profile
|
Aug 31, 2017 5:19:31 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Aug 31, 2017 5:19:31 GMT -7
No direction was given. The party did not move. Bonus loot from appraise: 1 Total loot so far: 2
The party has 50 energy No one is injured
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, further into the wasteland. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
|
|
|
PASSION:
10
BRAVERY:
7
FRIENDSHIP:
11
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 43
|
Aug 31, 2017 16:30:53 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Aug 31, 2017 16:30:53 GMT -7
"Hey, you were the one that suggested it might. I'm just going off your theory. It seems pretty sound to me, so I suppose you're right that it doesn't need to be tested at all," she nodded.
Alicia wasn't shaken by the sudden jerk of the car. Given it was half caused by her in the first place, she was expecting it. However, the sharpness of the turn and the sudden burst of speed it did make her lose her balance a little, pulling her out of her seat and right into Ezra's personal space. She really needed to remember to use that seat belt. Fortunately, turning back forward was enough to bounce her back towards her seat without slamming her into the window. While she wasn't fazed by the initial movement, after it all she was a little dizzy. At least overall her spotting meant it wasn't as bumpy as last time.
She took a moment to adjust her hair and smooth out the aforementioned sparkly jeans before leaning back and getting comfortable again. Alicia was pretty sure she couldn't come up with a reason more absurd than the truth, so she might as well roll with it even if she wanted to dress it up a little. Of course, after a reaction like that, there was no way she could ever use his real name in a conversation with him now.
"Well guy, my parents always taught me that presentation is important and that you should always look your best. Who knows who might see you after all. So it's only right that I use the fruits of all their hard work to look great all the time right? Plus, I think all the dust just adds character."
Alicia continued to watch the ground carefully. The last thing she wanted was to bite her tongue while trying to talk again. It didn't take long for her to notice a couple, though this time they were far enough away that she didn't feel the need to take over the steering wheel.
"ROCK!" she pointed, quickly realizing that the rock wasn't getting any closer. It sounded like the car was running, but it was clear they weren't moving. "...Are we moving? Did the car sink too far again?"
---
Skill: Strike 2
|
|
|
PASSION:
8
BRAVERY:
8
FRIENDSHIP:
12
Robin
is Offline
Posts: 32
|
Sept 2, 2017 2:13:40 GMT -7
Post by Ezra Oak on Sept 2, 2017 2:13:40 GMT -7
Move: RL Skill: Guide 1
|
|
|
PASSION:
1
BRAVERY:
1
FRIENDSHIP:
1
Lurk Cat
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 200
Profile
|
Sept 2, 2017 8:56:18 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Sept 2, 2017 8:56:18 GMT -7
The land continues to be featureless, sand an rock as far as the eye can see. The sand is soft, and anything heavy will sink into it, so the rocks are a bit easier to walk on even if they're a little uneven. Unfortunately, the rocks have their own hazards. Sometimes, they're covered with a thin layer of sand, making them a bit slippery. The unprepared could easily slip and fall out of sight.
---
Splitting terrain feature was successfully bypassed Loot from this room: 2 Bonus loot from appraise: 1 Total loot so far: 5
---
Parts of the wasteland are flat, but sometimes it slopes. In this case, it's a fairly steep slope onto a flat area, much like the flat area New Sumatra lies on, but the sand is thicker and harder to walk through. It's hard to move, and even heavy vehicles sink a little, coupled with the blaring hot sun makes it difficult to move through.
---
Exhaustion terrain feature was successfully bypassed Loot from this room: 1 Total loot so far: 6
The party has 35 energy No one is injured
You can go backward, back toward civilization. You can go to the left, back toward civilization. You can go to the right, further into the wasteland.
|
|
|
PASSION:
8
BRAVERY:
8
FRIENDSHIP:
12
Robin
is Offline
Posts: 32
|
Sept 3, 2017 1:38:24 GMT -7
Post by Ezra Oak on Sept 3, 2017 1:38:24 GMT -7
Ezra gave Alicia an utterly baffled look. “You are extremely bad at science.” For the sake of not hitting any more rocks, he turned back to the way down ahead of them. “So you’re screwing with your parents with expensive pants?” He snorted at the ridiculousness and the clothing designer that would be having nightmares about this, but his actual tone was unironic. “You’re using our resources better than half the desk heads. I can respect that.”
He was also realizing, as he pressed on the gas, nothing was happening.
“It’s fine.” He declared. The protests of the wheels and the nothing but sand they were kicking up as he laid his foot on the gas meant nothing. Through his teeth, he affirmed, “Engineers have to have made tougher cubes of moving metal than this.”
The pop and dark black plume of smoke that rose from the engines begged to differ. Grumbling to himself, Ezra kicked open the door and paced around to the front of the vehicle, casting a careful glance at the rock Alicia had pointed out and any clever traps it may’ve laid. A second cloud of black smoke was there to greet him when he popped open the car’s hood.
He returned to Alicia’s side of the car a moment later, after clearing his lungs of the car’s gunk and pretending like he had any idea what the workings inside the car were supposed to be doing, and knocks on the window.
“Bad news. The engineers have been replaced with kindergarteners and the car they made’s now going to do us as much good as the sand.” He began walking around towards back to open the trunk, grumbling, “At least the car won’t try to bury us or kill us with dehydration and superfluous heat. Damn sun’s showing off. Here,” He called up to his teammates. “We’ll each take a third of the food and water, and what we can carry after that. The rest we’ll leave behind. The official survey report is we lost it when this hodgepodge of sticks and metal got its bottom half buried in sand. It was lucky none of us got stuck, and by the time we got out and could go digging around, half the equipment they’d leant us had sunk into the sand.”
He tossed a bag over his shoulder. With the heat already as angry as it was, they’d better get moving if they didn’t want this whole day to be a waste and another lecture from the association worker who had the misfortune to get their equipment requests. City to his back, he started walking.
--- Skill: Guide Move: Right
|
|
|
PASSION:
10
BRAVERY:
7
FRIENDSHIP:
11
Kitten4u
is Offline
Posts: 43
|
Sept 3, 2017 8:58:21 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Sept 3, 2017 8:58:21 GMT -7
Alicia held back a chuckle, instead putting forward an exaggerated mock pout when he said she was bad at science. There wasn't much more she could say to that, and this kind of expression seemed better than any words anyway. She only kept it up for a few seconds before snapping back into a more normal expression. A small smile appeared on her face, her eyebrows went up, and she raised a single finger to explain everything.
"No, no, you see I'm just following the Surveying Association's advice. They say you should wear clothing you don't need and don't mind getting dirty or destroyed, and I don't need really expensive pants. The logic follows and is perfectly sound."
There was nothing serious about her tone, but she expected him to take it completely seriously anyway.
Alicia winced at the pop and all her hope of being able to keep the air conditioning for some of the later parts of the trip were being dashed by the black smoke coming out of the engine. She hoped that he would be able to do something about it, he did say he knew stuff about cars before, but she was mentally preparing herself for the walk outside doing her best to not remember that terrible salt flat. Despite that, she still wasn't fully prepared when he confirmed the bad news. Sighing, she pulled out her silly looking wide brimmed hat, put it on her head, and prepared for the long trek ahead.
"No complaints here," she sighed. "I'm sure I can at least remember that kind of story. Normally I'd be less worried about it, but maybe it'll encourage them to make better cars. It sounds like they need the extra encouragement. Trip's going to be rough without the air conditioning. Get ready."
---
Skill: Strike
|
|
|