[Taocow PBEM] Chapter XVII - On The Border Of Doom

Aaron Clausen mightymartianca at gmail.com
Mon Dec 22 22:12:26 GMT 2008


[Round #2]

 > [OOC]
 >    Initiative:
 >     Alister - 20
 >     Enemy Orc #1 - 14
 >     Lady Frost - 13
 >     Enemy Technowizard - 12
 >     Koba - 11
 >     Enemy Orc #2 - 10
 >     Owen - 7
 >     Carlos - 1
 >     Alex - 0
 >     Sia - -1
 >     Talas - -2
 >     Ted - -3
 > [/OOC]

>> [Alister]
>> "Bastard!" Alister curses loudly as he dives for cover, pulling 
>> something out of his pocket that disappears with a small flash 
>> [Strike: 15].
>> [/Alister]

>> [Enemy Orc #1]
>> The enemy orc turns his attention to Lady Frost, letting off
>> another shot [Strike: 20, not natural].
>> [/Enemy Orc #2]

>> [Lady Frost]
>> Lady Frost takes the damage and then fires another bolt of ice,
>> this one catching the huge wolf's front feet, stopping it dead in
>> its tracks. The rider flies out off its back and face first into
>> the water.
>> [/Lady Frost]

>> [Enemy Technowizard]
>> As the enemy Technowizard readies to fire again, there's a loud 
>> explosion right beside him [Damage: 13MD], knocking him off his 
>> hover board and into the water.
>> [/Enemy Technowizard]

> [Koba]
> Behind the cover of the rocks, Koba brushes his hand over the charred
> portion of his chest plate to make sure there isn't a hole straight
> through to the soft parts inside. "That will need to be buffed out"
> Koba mutters to himself.
> 
> Koba swings his rifle over the boulders and steadies it on the rock 
> before firing off another burst at the downed Technowizard [Strike: 
> Natural 20!].
> [/Koba]

[GM]
Koba's shot hits true [Damage: 80MD!].  The Technowizard is still there, 
but his armor is severely damaged.
[/GM]

[Enemy Orc #2]
The second orc, still mounted, starts rushing towards the fallen 
Technowizard, firing off a spray [Strike: 19], hitting Lady Frost and 
Carlos [Damage: 8MD apiece].
[/Enemy Orc #2]

> [Owen]
> Seeking to aid in ending the conflict Owen will summon a fireball 
> using Pyrokinesis, and throw it at the nearest Orc [Strike: 10].
> [/Owen]

[Enemy Orc #1]
The enemy orc is struck by the fireball [Damage: 14MD], his wolf mount 
isn't so lucky.  It lights his fur on fire and the wolf goes mad, 
snapping at itself and its rider, and the orc is forced to leap off.
[/Enemy Orc #1]

OOC: Carlos's player hasn't posted yet, so I'm just going to use his 
last move.

[Carlos]
Carlos fires again on the downed Technowizard [Strike: 2], but misses 
completely, vaporizing some water instead.
[/Carlos]

> [Alex]
> Taking just a moment, Alex activates the Naruni force field around 
> her body armor. She then gets her JA-12 Energy Rifle ready and 
> charges down the corridor. When she gets where she can fire, she 
> fires controlled three round bursts at the enemy [Strike: 19].
> [/Alex]

[Enemy Orc #1]
Alex opens fire on the nearest orc, hitting it with a burst [Damage: 
20MD].  The Orc, still trying to recover from leaping from the burning 
wolf, has his armor damaged.
[/Enemy Orc #1]]

> [Sia]
> Sialillion briefly checks on Osiris, then hurries down the tunnel 
> towards her other companions, readying her compound bow and quiver. 
> As soon as she can get a shot off, she fires a tranquilizer gas 
> arrowhead towards the center of the group of enemies, favoring the
> Orc with the Kittani pulse rifle if possible [Strike: 7]
> [/Sia]

[Enemy Orc #1]
Sia's arrow hits the orc, but does not hit any exposed area, and bounces 
off the armor.
[/Enemy Orc #1]

OOC: I'm going to assume that Talas is going to fire the pistol when he 
gets to the entrance.

> [Talas]
> Talas no longer senses an evil presence in Osiris, so he picks him up
> and head for the door. With Osiris over his left shoulder and a
> P-Beam pistol in his right hand. [Strike: 7]
> [/Talas]

[Enemy Orc #2]
As the second orc rides towards the Technowizard's aid, Talas's shot 
hits him [Damage: 25MD].  The rider is forced to abandon his attempts to 
save his companion, and instead, rears and starts heading into the 
forest in retreat.
[/Enemy Orc #2]

> [Ted]
> Once on the surface, the lizard man engaged the nearest Orc, aiming 
> for center of mass [Strike: Natural 20!]
> [/Ted]

[Enemy Orc #1]
Ted's shot strikes the nearest Orc [Damage: 78MD], blowing a hole 
through it.  The body drops to the ground.
[/Enemy Orc #1]

[OOC]
Situation at the end of round #2; one orc dead, Technowizard not dead 
but basically immobilized, and one orc fleeing on its wolf like crazy.
[/OOC]

[Alister]
Alister pulls something else out of one of his pockets.  Moments later 
there is an explosion right in front of the fleeing Orc [Damage: 18MD], 
and the Orc is flung to the ground as the wolf runs off.
[/Alister]

[Lady Frost]
Lady Frost covers the orc in ice, immobilizing it.  She then turns to 
the Technowizard and does the same, freezing the creek in the process.

"There, that takes care of that." she says.  "I suggest we get to our 
vehicles immediately.  Whoever is after us already knows we're here, and 
these scouts won't be a problem any more."
[/Lady Frost]

[GM]
In the distance can be heard more voices, and many loud feet.  It's 
clear a larger force is moving towards them, and they may only have 
moments to get to their vehicles.

In a few minutes the company is back at the vehicles, which appear 
unmolested.
[/GM]

OOC: I'm assuming everyone is heading to the vehicles and getting the 
$#@% out of here.

[Lady Frost]
Lady Frost guns her ATV and transmits to Ted, Owen and Carlos, "I think 
we should take that tree man's advice and head to the east end of the 
valley.  New York wasn't the safest town in the world in my day, and I'm 
thinking, seeing what I've seen, that it's probably got a whole lot worse."
[/Lady Frost]

[GM]
Just as Om had told them, the going is slow, but there's no more sign of 
the enemy.  The forest here is thick and trails difficult to find.  Even 
with Sia and Carlos's help, they can do no better than thirty miles an 
hour most of the time.

The land here seems utterly empty and abandoned.  Even ruins are 
difficult to find through all the vegetation.  Though close by are the 
ruins of one of the greatest metropolises of pre-Rifts times, you'd 
hardly know it.  By three o'clock the weather changes again and the sun 
comes out, small, but still a change over the fogs and snow.  The 
shadows are long, however, and dark is not long away.

The company finally finds itself driving down the ruined highway.  A few 
surviving signs announce it as Highway 84.  The pavement is long gone, 
but the road does have some appearance of repair.

As dusk falls, and everyone is feeling a little tired from the hard road 
trip, as if like an answer to unsaid prayers, a shallow valley opens up, 
and below can be seen the twinkling lights of a small town.  It's 
surrounded by a large wall that looks built out of poorly cast concrete, 
but at least ten feet thick.  The houses all look rather new, built 
largely out of logs or rough-sawed lumber.  The highway leads past it 
and through some sort of toll gate.

The town itself looks like it has no more than two hundred people, and 
there's little evidence of very much advanced weaponry other than a few 
rail gun emplacements on the walls and rather rough-looking Titan 
standing at the toll gate.
[/GM]

[Louissa]
"This is all new." Louissa says.  "Our scouts don't often come to this 
region, probably not for a couple of years.  I have no idea who these 
people are."
[/Louissa]

[GM]
As they look on, five horsemen suddenly appear out of the city gates up 
towards the company.
[/GM]

[Lady Frost]
"Stay sharp, everyone." Lady Frost says into the radio.
[/Lady Frost]

[GM]
The horsemen stop at about a couple of hundred feet.  They are dressed 
in odd, almost medieval-looking armor, clearly megadamage but based on 
ancient designs.  At their sides are swords, sheathed, but with hands at 
the ready.

The lead rider moves forward, and then removes his helmet, revealing an 
Elven woman who might be beautiful, save for a terrible scar, three 
inches wide and running from her chin right up behind her ear.

She stops her horse at twenty feet, her sword pulled out and revealed as 
a rune weapon, with a hilt shaped like that of a striking cobra, with 
its runes drawn upon it, glinting in the fading light.

"Declare yourselves." she says in a clear voice.  "Friend or foe?  Be it 
known that the Free Republic of Tanoria is swift and harsh in its 
punishments to those who would come with evil in hand or mind."
[/GM]

OOC: Have a very Merry Christmas everyone.  Don't feel too rushed to reply.

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com


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