[Paradise] No road is long with good company

[DeusExAlice]

"Gooooood morning residents, squatters, vagabonds and travelers visiting this here slice of paradise that we call Goldpond! Here's the latest gossip..."


Sure as shit my suvivors, the dawn has come with a vengeance much like the squawking of the radio program on what few sets are working. The warm humid air of night is already the hot and muggy air of the day, and it isn't even noon yet. Lovely, no? Best make sure you got some kind of screens up, even though it's the tail end of the mosquito season around here those miserable bastards just love finding a warm and blood stuffed host to burrow into for a nest. Although don't worry! We're civilized here, I've heard plenty of good things about these fancy candles made and sold outside of a boarded up house. Supposed to keep out the little buggers while it's burning.


Still, same shift different day. Only, I'm a little fuzzy on the details here. I really want to know what goes on in your day!


So everyone, just where are you this morning and what do you happen to be doing? Fingers crossed, I won't tell a soul!


@WlfSamurai @Echo @Teh Frixz @Skrakes @Napalm on Toast @Shan


EDIT: My own excitement overrode my thoughts. That or the late hour I do this at.


I need you guys to go through the highlight process as it (Should!) indicate in your playbook on who to choose.


As for mine...


Sin: I arguably got really tingly with excitement as seeing you rip into someone with your brain, so to totally-not-encourage that I wanna see you rock some Weird.


Violet:: Fuck, is it Hot in here or just you? *ba-dum-tish*


Hooper: A strong leader needs to be Hard, of you I have no doubts.


Crow: Ya know, you look reeaaal Sharp behind the wheels.


Midas: ...you're a really Weird fuck, you know that right?


El-Amin: For a new kid on the block, you're pretty damn Cool!

 

[WlfSamurai]

Noted.


Let's see, I have three tied at Hx+3, so on a whim I choose Crow. Would you be so kind as to highlight a stat for me?


Also, I'm just finishing up watching the sun come up at the top of the lighthouse. If I'm not doing something else in the morning, I'll come up here to feel the wind and watch the morning light grow.

 

[Skrakes]

Sin does seem very sharp.


Amin gets to highlight me.


Crow's trying to scare up some work, seeing if anyone needs to make a run down the coast.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Sin shall be hi lighting for me.


Another day started. I'm already awake when the sun rises and hits the edge of my face. Oddly enough there isn't a reflection from the shiny surface but I've learned long ago to stop caring about that sort of thing. The door to the room is open, Sin probably having passed by. She gives my room wide berth. I'm probably the only person she hasn't tried to fiddle around with yet. Good, smart move. There is a stack of mind fucks who tried outside the gate. Bones picked clean by nature and time.


I stand, walking over to my window to look down on Goldpond. I haven't been out of my room in a few days. Probably time to make an appearance again. Outer Goldpond was getting rowdy. It was my city. It will be in my control.

 

[Echo1]

Hello, El-Amin... could you maybe do me a favor and, uh, tell me which of my stats you find most interesting? Pugnax, no! Don't try nuzzling her, you'll just push her over! But yeah. I'd appreciate it. If it's not a bother. (Got Hx+3 on miss Fareeda)


Breakfast time. I go out to Pugnax's garage and he's happy to see me. I push a giant orange into his mouth -- he protests a little, but he's hungry so he'll take what he can get. Once all those complex little parts in his mouth are cutting into the fruit, I sit down on the driveway and start peeling my own. We're both sick of giant oranges, but it's all we got right now. I should probably go into town and pick something up. Well, I'd need money first. Pugnax is good at lifting and transporting but not much else, and my own skills other than handling him are kind of specialized... I mean, it's not like anyone could have a use for botanical knowledge or, like, bushwhacking.


Pfft. There's pieces of orange pulp all over his face. I bet I could spend a lot less on food if Pugnax was a more efficient eater. Cute, though.

 

[Shan]

o__O So popular.


Violet always seemed like a Cool customer to me. How she keeps that creature in check must be nerves of steel.


And Crow must be Cool, as well. How else is she cozy driving that old pick-up around in this hellland?


Violet needs to highlight me.


Anyway, Dear El-Amin is trekking into town, worn pack in hand, hoping to learn more about the locals and possibly scrounge up a hat. Where the sun hits, it hits fiercely.

 

[Echo1]

I hear that some like it Hot, El-Amin. You should try it.

 

[Napalm on Toast]

Amin gets to highlight for me as well. Such a popular lil' girl.


Another morning and I'm out on the porch, trying to stay cool in this hellspawned pit. I'm sittin' underneath my sign. It's nailed on the awning at an angle so that it provides me with a little shade, for all the good it does. It just reads Midas. That's all the advertisement I need, my own name. Anyone who's been here knows who I am. Anyone who doesn't, well, chances are they don't have anything worth my time anyways. Shop's sturdy enough. Just the one door, right behind me. Boarded over the rest, covered em with shards of glass and barbed wire. Nothin' like screams in the morning, 'specially when they're the screams of a filthy thief.


I got one of them stinky candles burning, filling the air with sickly sweetness that coats yer tongue and makes ya wanna chew it off. Enough to make ya gag, but better than having the blasted suckers drain ya dry. Sleeves rolled up, shirt unbuttoned halfway down my chest, arms crossed on my stomach, watchin' the rest of Goldpond start up their day. From here I can see the tip of the lighthouse and the corner of the arena both. Prime property, especially if you're in the business of having what people need, and I am cause I do.


There's a murmur behind me, but it's nothin' anybody else can hear. It's the sound ya make when ya first wake up, that sigh as you stretch body and mind both, everything that you are jerking back into awareness. Hello, lovely. There's no answer. She's not much for sweet talkin', my dear, but that's alright. I understand her.


[dice]3400[/dice]

The MC gets to hold one. During the session, you can spend your hold 1 for 1 to:

• name a thing present. Your hoard must have it. When you give it to your hoard, mark experience and give your hoard -1hunger.
  
• name a thing you've borrowed from your hoard. Your hoard must have it back. When you return it to your hoard, mark experience and give your hoard -1hunger.
  

If the MC has any hold left at the end of the session, give your hoard +1hunger, to a maximum of hunger+4.

 

[Shan]

I got to be honest and say I think you're a Hard ass, Midas.

 

[WlfSamurai]

I climb down the Lighthouse on my way to find Hooper. I'm hoping she can keep her shit together today, I'm not looking to tip-toe around her. I head for her room as I always do in the morning. It's important to keep the boss-lady happy. I like my squat here and anything that threatens that...well, let's just say EVERYTHING has a brain that could get in my way.


Hooper highlight Cool so you can keep your shit together, please.

 

[DeusExAlice]

Sin


I really like the sun rise myself this time of year, what with the greenish haze it takes on it's almost like it rises on up out of the surrounding jungle. Kinda like what that one crazy awhile back was trying to describe, an ocean or something? Whackjob going on about water as far as the eye can see melding with blue skies.


Now though, you definitely find the whackjob you're interested in! She's looking out over Goldpond through a window. Standing near the open doorway is one of the Faced, they're wearing what looks like a piecemeal suit of armor patched together with so many plates and pads you can't even pick out a gender. Sure as shit though, the polished mask and machete on its hip scabbard stand out in this settlement. It hasn't spoken yet, they're pretty spooky in just how quiet they are.


On that note actually, can you tell them apart even? If you do, how do you do it and which one is this?


Crow


So you want to make some jingle, no? Well it looks like today is starting in your favor! That's for certain!


You see Dribble tearing ass towards you, probably coming down off of his most recent high. His dirty clothes have some dark stains on them from sources best left unknown. He's carrying a package like it's a newborn child and starts jabbering a million miles a minute begging for a quick ride.


I think that'd call for a rush delivery fee, right?


Something I wanna know though, have you ever helped Dribble on a drug run before?


Hooper


Thy kingdom came.


In your tower you can see just about every inch of Inner Goldpond and more or less all of Outer Goldpond. Sure, you might not be able to get all the details...but such concerns are below you right? That's up to your underlings to handle. Speaking of which, you hear one of the Faced arrive. Specifically so from the tell tale clink of the machete on their belt. Something a little more interesting, a little more worrisome perhaps.


You can see a little assembly forming in Outer Goldpond. Now I can't really make out who it is from here, but do you have any idea who it might be?


Violet


As nutritious as mutant oranges truly are, you probably would want to grab some extra nutrients. Or at least liquor! Most important medicine right?...right?


Still, Hooper runs a protection racket for a number of outlying communities. A number of which happen to be farmers who bring their produce in! Has Pugnax ever helped plow some of their fields?


Wait a sec...you hear that? Sounds like someone is getting into a bit of a heated argument. Like...really heated. I tell you it's the fucking weather, people can't take the humidity. It sounds like it's coming from the house opposite you though, just who are your neighbors?


El-Amin


Fine day for a walk! The birds are chirping, the insects rustlings and the people are doing their thing. Up ahead you can see the gates to the community of Outer Goldpond. Massive sheets of metal welded together, you recognize one of the severely faded logos on it as being from a very popular airline back when civilization was still...ya know...around. Hooper and her Faced have been decorating though, you notice two fresh bodies mounted up on the wall. One of them is missing most of their face, not quite sure who they were. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) you actually recognized the other one! Who were they and why'd they end up as they are now?


Still, not much you do for them anyways. Up ontop of the rampart and lurking in the shadows where you enter in you can see some of the Faced. Silently watching the comers and goers behind their impassive masks.


There's another couple on your right, one of them is Spar. She actually owns a farm that's really close to your little vault! And I do mean close, at some point in the past she was planting stuff on the surface above your little hidden home. In the wheelbarrow it looks like she's hauling around Freddy, her kid. He looks to be in real rough shape though, blood stained clothing with a number of crude bandages packed onto the wounds.


How did it go when you first met these two?


Midas


I envy you good sir. You're quite the lucky man to have someone in your life as wonderful as your hoard. You do get a feeling that she's feeling a bit peckish though, just can't quite decide for what yet though.


While you're reclining on the porch though, you see a little cobbled together cart made up from the scrapped bed of some vehicle long since past being able to be called anything beyond “garbage”. Pulling it along is a fairly miserable looking donkey, it's splayed claws tearing up the ground as it hauls the cart and it's pile of junk and oddities along. At the head of this disgusting parade is Twitch, a junk trader. Junk though would just be a cautious label, once in a great while they find something of real interest and are always looking to sell. Not quite sure where he gets his wares though...


He stops close, swaddled in far more garments than can possibly be survivable in this heat. Absolutely reeking of sweat, dirt and rancid food he pays no heed to how off putting it might be as he starts pawing through his things hoping to find something that might catch your eye.


What's the weirdest thing Twitch has ever tried to sell you?

 

[Teh Frixz]

Hooper


That clinking. One of the zealots that followed her, now running the day to day of her kingdom. It felt good to have to not care as much anymore. Everyday there were more and more of the Faced popping up. The children of the first gen already starting to treat Hooper like a demigod. They'll earn their real faces soon enough.


The one that interests me more now was the strapping Faced coming in. This one, his name Quint, is the head of Outer Goldpond. One of three Faced that can come up into my room. Quint has been with me forever. Back out west even. One of the first to find himself a face. Already I know something is up. Something to do with that group. We stand silent for a while, staring at each other without a word.


It's that damn slaver again. Wanting to sell his wares in outer Goldpond. At least he is using proper channels this time, we killed three of his representatives before, their bones decorating the Outer fence. They know we don't allow slave trade here. At least not outright like he wants. Servants, whores, whipped dogs. Things like that are abided in Goldpond but our protection money would dry up if I started letting slavers take the tributary settlements. I nod to the Faced and he nods back. I'll meet the slave driver later, for now we can keep him happy with a free ticket to the evening games in the arena. Got ourselves some feral tribals to throw against some big cats. Good times.

 

[Napalm on Toast]

Midas


When it gets this hot, you can almost smell the earth itself rotting, stronger than these damn candles, stronger than the arena gets after a full day of bloodbaths. In fact, the stench seems to be getting worse by the minute... oh wait. It's that sniveling little weasel, Twitch. Hard to tell, since he looks more like a pile of soiled rags rather than anything ambulatory. I can't even describe the smell, besides the fact that it's foul enough to curdle my stomach. I lean forward a bit, puttin' my nose a bit closer to the sputtering wick and drawing in a deep sniff. It doesn't cover up Twitch entirely, but it goes a ways. There's no point in dissuading him. He found a niche in this cesspit and he filled it, like shit in a hole. He's gonna dig through that heap of a cart on my front steps no matter what I do, so I might as well take a look. Most the time all he's got is trash. Do you know what he brought me once? A freakin' baby. Dead, of course. Who knows where he got it, why he picked it up, why the hell he thought I would want it. Pathetic thing, shriveled and grey. Worthless. That might be the worst, but there's been other shit. Sometimes, though... sometimes he stumbles upon pure gold.


I waltz over, watching what he unloads without speaking. There's a slither in the back of my mind, a pressure that reminds me that I'm not alone, and I grin my widest smile. I don't care if it scares Twitch shitless, a little fear is good for the worm. He tries talking, but like always, it sounds like he's speakin' through a mouthful of mush. He's got sloughskin, caught it out in the wastes. No teeth, bleedin' gums, skin peeling off in strips... almost as gross as the smell. Thank god it's not contagious. "What have you got for me today, Twitchy?" The vagrant mumbles something, starts to sift through the trash, showin' it off like each piece of scrap is priceless.


And there it is, like diamond in the muck. Perfect, precious, just what she'll want, just what we both we need. Now the only question is how can I make it mine. (Acquisitive Eye)

 

[Skrakes]

Crow


Dribble? The man's a buffoon, but idiots are useful to more powerful men. Yes, she has run with him before. Made him sit in the back, couldn't stand how he chews his nails when he's nervous -- always nervous. She sizes him up. Does she really have a fuck to give this guy today?


Rolling to Read a Person, marking XP.


[dice]3403[/dice]

 

[Echo1]

Violet


You know, Pugnax, hauling isn't the only thing you're good for. Remember when you helped plow Bog's field? Took a little persuasion to get Trillium to lend us her extra plow so we could lash two together and let you do twice the work in half the time. The fields don't need plowing now, but it's gotta be close to harvest time. Do you think honest Goldponders like mister Bog have a sense of reciprocity and a little selflessness? He did pay me back then, but maybe I could still call in a favor and get my pick from all the veggies, just enough to survive, you know. It's not begging if you helped them first, right? And even if he didn't let me, he still might be able to point me to some work. I could also just steal from the fields, but I like Bog too much, Trillium has a rifle and is not afraid to use it, and I'm not quite desperate enough to chance night ops in any of the other fields with unknown owners... seriously, these farmers have fences and watchdogs for a reason.


Aw, shit. I don't mind so much that the neighbors interrupted my train of thought, because now I'm more worried about them. Things have been getting worse between Sadie and Rebeckah, er, "Beck" is preferred I guess. I only learned their names from hearing them shouted to each other, since they didn't introduce themselves the one time we did speak in person. A while back they came over during lunch and yelled at me, saying my beast had been digging around their yard at night or something, it was hard to tell with both of them tossing accusations at once. I think they're both mean, but Beck is like actually violent -- shoved me around, got in my face, no fear in that girl at all. Probably overcompensating for how diminutive she looks.


A plate or something shatters inside the condo and Sadie makes a noise. Beck is just screaming her lungs out. Sadie is apologizing over and over but that's just making Rebeckah angrier for some reason. I don't even know what they're arguing about. Fuck. What should I do? This isn't my business. All I'd do is put myself in danger if I interfered, and that's all I care about, me and Pugnax, right? I realize I've stood up. Pugnax is staring across the street. Maybe he's concerned too. I find myself looking around the run-down suburb, like through some miracle I'll see someone else and then I won't feel like I have to do something, it'll be on them. There's no one, of course. The Faced don't come this far out very much ever, and even if they did it's not like they'd give a damn. If anyone else does live on this block, they sure keep to themselves. I'm kind of scared. I should just take Pugnax into town. Go see Bog. Pretend I didn't hear anything. They're mean people. I don't know them. I'm making excuses. I'm a coward.


Some glass breaks. Fists on flesh. A struggle. I can hear everything through these thin-ass walls. Fuck. I start half-walking, half-jogging across the street, my hand is going to my gun. Pugnax gets worried and bounds after me, and I'm not thinking but I still shout, "Pugnax, speak!" He knows that command well. You can hear his scream from a mile away, I swear. Sounds like an electrical appliance is getting stabbed to death and it's really, really angry about that fact. There's nothing like it. I'm already at the door and it's unlocked so I shunt it open with my shoulder. Oh god, their house is a broken mess, there's blood... "Stop hurting her!" Pugnax's horn sticks into the door, with the serrated edge angled as if ready to sweep across the front wall and expose the whole condo to his attacks. Good boy. (Unleashed)

 

[Shan]

Hanker. he called himself that because, he confided to me a few days ago, he had a hankering for treasure, and his nose was sensitive enough, so he claimed, that he knew with moonshine fueled fervor that there was a huge heap of gold and baubles in Goldpond. He might have simply seen the name and thought this after a late night drinking, but he knew that there was something within the Inner compound, and he knew he'd found a hole in the security he could exploit. I'd been interested mostly because I, too, want to go inside the retirement community's main ruins myself, but I've been kept at bay by the strangely silent masked gang, that I learned preferred to be called the Faced, not the Masked. He'd rambled at her mostly because Id been willing to listen and not drink his ethanol, but hadn't shared what that "hole" was. It seemed he'd try going through it sometime yesterday or last night, and found the hole was filled with spikes. I really needed to find a legitimate reason to explore the retirement center. Other means, as the poor body of Hanker and the others showed, didn't end well.


I hunched over and walked through the gates, keeping my eyes to the ground. I was a stranger here, this wasn't my culture. I could try to suggest something a bit....better, but I had no illusions of changing anything. Something was off here, something that wasn't there during the Event. One day, I might figure out what it is. I looked back up through the sun glare as I saw one of my "neighbors" push through the gates beside me. I'd known of their existence before meeting them, since their fields sat almost directly above the bunker. It both gave her hope and disturbed me to see it. She couldn't recall why I slept underground, but there was a dread that, perhaps, there'd be nothing left aboveground from...whatever the Event was, I suppose. A field, agriculture, meant that there were people and civilization still. At the same time, no one should be farming here. I'm certain that the bunker was built within a nature preserve. I'd taken a few plants, all of them unlike any crop I'd seen before, and that alerted them to my presense as I took and attempted to cultivate for myself the strange flora they grew. Once we finally crossed paths, they taking a walk around their determined property and her in her makeshift tent, meant to be her cover camp, they were kind enough about my theft, though I had to work a few days in the fields to help repay them. We helped each other then, they teaching me what sort of additives the plants needed to thrive, and I...well, I could at least teach them some Beatle songs. I never know what knowledge to pass on and what to hide, but there's no reason the Fab Four's music shouldn't live on.


Now, Spar and Freddy worked to get within Goldpond, Spar pushing her son in a wheelbarrow, and Freddy looking pale, weak, and covered in bloody makeshift bandages. Spar catches my eye and gives a worried smile, likely trying to assure me that this wasn't my problem. She had a pre-Event home and lands and fields. I had a tent and a sleeping mat, as far as she knew. There wasn't much I should be able to do. I ignored it. I don't know what sort of "specialist" I am, but parts of my memory began throwing out instructions on massive trauma, bloodloss, pressure bandages, and other mishmashes of first aid alone with knowing, with the conviction of Hanker and his gold, that if I could help, I must.


"What happened?" I said, rushing over to them. I began scanning his body, thinking of him less as the hardworking, goofy farmboy and more about all the flesh and bone that made him up. He'd lost a lot of blood. He might be going into shock. He could move his legs, so there'd been no spinal damage. No major arteries must have been hit, or else he'd be dead already...


"I might be able to help him," I said, pleading, to Spar, looking her in her worried, red, but determined eyes. "Please, tell me what happened."

 

[WlfSamurai]

Oh sure, that's easy. Well...for me, anyway. It's all about aura. Given enough time spent near or with someone, you can pick up their aura, if you're cursed the way I am. It's like...a bad smell. It just kinda wafts into your mind and you can tell each apart.


Whatever, the point is I nick-named this one Grumpy. I named quite of few of Hooper's men after dwarves I've seen in a book called "Snow White". Grumpy's always razzing me on whether or not Hooper is expecting me. He finds anyway he can to make my life difficult.


I give him a nod. "Looking for Hooper." I wait for his reply.

 

[DeusExAlice]

Hooper:


The Faced departed just as quickly as Quint arrived and received his marching orders concerning the slaver. Your crew sure are a bunch of spooky and quiet fucks, not two ways about it! No offense meant of course, Hard Holder. That particular little spark should hopefully be stamped out before it even got to be a fire, I know I wouldn't pass up a chance to see those cats rip into the savages. Just how in the hell do you even catch them anyways?


Huh. I imagine wrangling a giant mangy murder-cat isn't exactly the next thing in your daily planner and it looks like any other underlings have slinked away. Still no sign of Sin if she did pass through here earlier.


What do you do?


Midas:


Fuck me, you might be a prejudiced prick at times Midas but I ain't no saint either. Twitch is a -lot- creepier and disgusting than I remember. You are definitely right on that even the ugliest of things can have a useful role to fill at least, like right now. Probably somewhere he picked up his little disfiguring disease, Twitch managed to find a piece of the Golden Age! It looks like it has seen better days (HarHar), but otherwise...not sure what it is. It looks like it's got kinda like...a horn dealy hooked up to some kinda gizmo you trigger? You probably got a better idea than I do on what it is.


Your hoard though, she seems to know what it is and wants it. That aching pressure that hurts in a way that feels good almost, am I right?


[As MC I am spending the 1 hold I have. Your hoard wants that fucking pain-wave projector. And it wants it -bad-. If you give this item to your hard, you mark experience and give the hoard -1 hunger.]


You don't quite have the best salesman grin and that fucking look in your eye, you know the one you get when she wants something. Well those just serve to unnerve the creepy little shit who came here hoping you'd be looking to buy. Why the fuck he keeps coming back when you make him shit his pants a little whenever you get interested is beyond me, maybe you're one of the rare few who actually peruse his wares.


Still, if she ain't happy then nobody is happy. So you got a few options here you pick out with your experienced eye. The most direct way you can acquire this item would be intimidating the little shit into giving it to you at a much lower cost. We're talk five-fingered discount bargain price here is possible if you can shake him up with a good enough threat. It's pretty obvious that Twitch'll be standing in your way on this one, he's not daft. He knows this thing is worth some good jingle. Last question is pretty easy, your hoard won't just accept it. Your hoard needs this thing. She deserves something pretty, right?


What do you do?


Crow:


Lets be honest here, the both of us. Any fucks for Dribble? Not a chance. Not a fucking chance for that matter. The plague carrying fly in the toxic ointment though is the people Dribble works for. They warrant a fuck or two. Which begs the question, who'd be risking pissing them off to make Dribble this scared? It looks like you're in a shit situation from where I'm watching, you help out the wigged out junkie and I'm pretty certain you'll make some jingle...just whoever is after him might not be so happy about your interference. Rebuff him, he probably won't have very nice things to say about you if he manages to lay low long enough to find his friends.


Dribble keeps looking over his shoulder down the street, you notice the free hand not wrapped around the case has bloody fingertips. If the color of his lips is any hint the strung out freak bit the fucking tips off of his fingers. In between his babbling he's pulling out a fistful of bartering currency. The mix ranges from bullets to soda caps to little paper stamps, even a few brightly colored stones. Course the little shit is smearing it all with his blood, but it's not like much of this world doesn't run off of blood money anyways.


What do you do?


Violet:


Holy shit gimme a warning shout if you know that bug of yours is gonna make that sound again? Fuck. Last time it took a week for the ringing to stop!


No time to worry about that though, Pugnax went to fucking town on that door. It's not like the patched together wood and sheet metal was very durable, it just sort of collapses once it met your big ol' pet. Good Pug-Pugnax? Fuck. You can't quite tell what's going on from his end, but he sees something and he muscles his way into the house right through the thin walls. He doesn't seem to be actually bringing the sky down upon their heads, he just found something good to eat inside!


Meanwhile thouggh, Sade is screaming her head off, Beck is swearing like it's the only language she speaks and then there's you. Neighborhood Watch Member One, Violet.


Thanks to Pugnax you have a -much- better view inside. You can see Sade, her mouth open in shock and horror to see your massive buggily half buried through a wall snacking on something in another room. You can see Beck holding the broken end of a bottle as a makeshift stabbing implement. And underneath her you can see a very bewildered and frightened girl who looks like she just got the shit beaten out of her. If the blood on Beck's knuckles were any clue, it looks like she was the one who wanted to take a turn at being a prize fighter outside of the arena.


They all look in your direction.


What do you do?


El-Amin:


It's obviously clear he's been shot, whether this is from first hand experience or your fucked up memory you got a pretty good idea of what's wrong and what could be done to fix it. You'd need a proper place to work on him though, a wheelbarrow doesn't make for a very good operating room. At the same time though, bare hands aren't exactly the best tools. For now though you're focusing on Spar, this ordeal has shaken her a good bit though but she's holding it together pretty well for the moment. You can read her almost like an open book, you're a spooky sharp gal. Just saying.


“I-I don't know! I was busy, I heard gunshots and when I came out I found him like this.”


What do you do?


Sin: Hah! Love it! So yeah, that Faced fuck is there looking at you behind his mask. In a surprisingly soft spoken voice you pick out, “She's in her room, for now. If you want her I suggest you get going now.” He's usually a bit of dickhead over things like this, almost a living embodiment of Hurry Up And Wait. However the boss lady is a fickle one at times, so he might very well be warranted this time.


Kinda seems like he wants you out of the room though, probably just him being Grumpy though. It's not like Faced show fear...right?


What do you do?


Everyone: Now Goldpond, Outer Goldpond and beyond the Hardhold seem to have a bit of distance socially speaking. If you get hurt, anybody know any sawbones in the area? Or is this a place of bloodshed, not healing?

 

[Teh Frixz]

Hooper


It was easy enough to get those big cats. All it takes is killing their mom. I followed one down, killed it and took the cubs to the pit. There were five cubs in the pit once. I stopped feeding them and now there are only three. Normally I don't care about animals. Less than others even. But these three, they remind me of myself a little. Raised in a bit, eating those around it to survive.


I keep staring out the window, my body shakes once after Quint leaves. An honest to god chuckle. Just one. That's enough about that.


Goldpond looks right enough today. People going about their business, the arena starting to wake up and the rotting corpse of that bastard she caught trying to get into Inner Goldpond. Third one this month. She needed to come down and kill someone. People were forgetting. Where the hell was Sin? And there goes that bug. Should be in the Arena but I am no bandit, I'm not taking it.


Turning in my spot, I start towards the door. She'd find me. Time to make an appearance. Descending, I make my way, wheezing and twitching at the outer Goldpond gate.

 

[Echo1]

Violet


Fuck. I knew he was sick of those oranges.


Okay, okay. Calm down. This could've turned out a lot worse. Wait, no. I spoke too soon. There's a girl here too. I've spent a lot of time in my life following my gut instinct, so I don't even think about why the sight of the girl throws me into a boiling rage. "Get the fuck away from them!" I rip my gun out of its holster, flip the safety off, and point it at Beck. (Going aggro)


I've got my whip coiled and hanging from my hip, too. I could use that as some kind of restraint. Bring Beck into town, maybe? I don't want to kill her. And the Faced would know what to do with her. Well, first I should see about getting through this.


Edit: Oh, a medic? There's a crazy naturopath living in a lean-to near the walls but, uh... that doesn't actually answer the question. Whenever I get hurt I go to Ms. Fareeda El-Amin. She seems to know more than the average person about doctoring, and Pugnax likes visiting her.

 

[Shan]

Gunshot. Fuck. And from here, there's no way to determine if the bullets passed clean through or if sat lodged inside him. Either way, one was in the abdomen, the nastiest place of all to hit. Who knew what it knicked or punctured entirely. If I was back at the bunker...


But I wasn't, and I couldn't risk the lives of everyone like this, as much as it hurt to admit it to myself. Besides, that was a long way to backtrack, and he didn't have that time, not traveling by wheelbarrow. It didn't help that all my post Event instincts: call an ambulance, keep him stable, get him to a hospital, they were worthless. There wasn't even a proper doctor in town. There were people who basically practiced apothecary, learning or knowing the various plants and herbs in the area to make medicines of varying effectiveness. There were people calling themselves healers, but most of the best ones found themselves working exclusively for the Faced, I'd been told, if they didn't get out of town quick enough. Those that were left knew most people recovered on their own and hoped to take credit for that. I only trusted one, if I were forced to trust anyone. He was young, and wasn't that skilled, but he knew how to take off a limb properly, knew to keep the work area clear and clean, and even knew to wash his hands with actual soap.


Soap wouldn't be enough here, though. They'd need ethanol, and that was abundant in this place, with moonshiners selling their wares of varying quality - from smooth and sweet goodness that'd sell well before she slept to those that sold rotgut and eyeblinders, but for much cheaper. There were craftsmen, those with tiny, fiddly tools to play with machines or trim wood. There were seamstresses, with needle and thread to mend or remake the cloth from the Golden Age. In fact, everything I needed to save Freddy was in this place. It just needed to be brought to one place, and placed in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing.


I glanced over at Spar, the thoughts dashing through my head in a flashing moment. Everything looked slow around me. My body must be pumped with adrenaline. Good for Freddy, likely bad for me once it faded and I crashed. I just hoped that'd be after I closed him up.


"Do you know where Doc Hawk is?" I asked her, staring her straight in the eye. I needed her to trust me, I needed to get her to do what I wanted. Heck, maybe she planned to take Freddy to Doc Hawk to start with. I hoped so, at least. Seconds counted now. It might be too late already, but damned if I wasn't going to get all those little ticks of the clock to work for me.


I moved my hands to the wheelbarrow handles. She was tired and frantic, and likely got here on the same chemical rush I rode on now. I forced my voice to stay cool, calm, steady, and strong. She needed someone to take over, who knew what to do, who could tell her it'd be all right. I couldn't do the latter, but the former would help me help her.


"I'll take him there," I told her. "I need you to go to Coon Coot, get his strongest, cheapest drink, at least a quart, and take it there. And stop by Minny's place, borrow needles and as much thread as you can get. The thick, strong stuff, understand? Bring them all to Doc Hawk's, the booze and the needles and strong thread. Understand? I can help Freddy, but you need to do what I ask."


Please, please, I prayed, the action an odd reflex as I didn't know to whom I talked. Please understand and help.

 

[Napalm on Toast]

Midas


Ah, she sees it too, my love, and I know she wants it. It's not hard to tell when a bric-a-brac catches her fancy. Feels a lil' like licking a battery, but instead of zappin' my tongue it enervates every fiber of my being. People wonder why I don't barter for drugs and booze and flesh like most the reprobates in Goldpond, but the answer's simple enough. Don't need none of that, not when I got her current flowing through my veins, makin' me feel alive. Those vices don't compare to her touch, her desire, her hunger. She's here now, fully aware. Feels like she's standin' beside me, lookin' over my shoulder, and I know it in my bones that she wants what Twitch has. We been together a long time, she don't even need to say a word. I know.


Speaking of which, he's actin' more like his namesake than normal. Lil' bugger can't seem to look me in the eye. I can almost smell the fear on 'em. Maybe he knows I want it, maybe he knows I don't let nothing or nobody stand in the way when I want a thing. Good. Fear's healthy, keeps you alive in this place. I'm scared shitless of Hooper and her freak Faced. Doesn't mean I won't steal from her if the opportunity presents itself, but I step careful around our fearless, psychopath leader. Make too much noise in Goldpond you tend to decorate its walls. "Stay here Twitch," I order him. "I got something inside for ya, no problem."


I leave the wretch and his stench behind, back into the store. The shelves are mostly empty, worthless junk really. I don't approve of browsing. You come in, you tell me what you want, I go find it in the back. That's the way it works in Midas' shop. The door behind the counter is locked and no one but me has the key. I open it now, hear the rusty tumblers grind together. Back room has more in it, some of it not half-bad, but it's a front too. People have broken in here before, one or two even made it out alive. No, the good stuff is underneath the trapdoor in the corner, looks just like the rest of the floor until you step on the right place. Some sort of cellar or storeroom before, but now it's a home, a home for me and her, just us.


Oh, and how she is beautiful.


I try not too look too hard when I open it up. If I'm not careful I'll spend all day staring at her like a lovesick hound, polishing her pieces, sweet-talkin' my lady. There ain't time for that now, but I still apologize for the necessity. "Sorry honey, business calls." She understands, of course. Her thoughts are still fixated on that sweet piece outside, so she don't mind if I'm quick. There's plenty lying around here, goods that she holds but not too tightly, baubles that others in Goldpond can only dream of. It makes her real antsy, real hungry, but she allows it. I take some now, scoop it up for Twitch, more than enough to satisfy him. (go into hoard for jingle)


But then I stop for a sec. Twitch, now, he looks real nervous. More than I've seen before, which means he might fold easier too. He wants what he's due, but he wants to keep breathin' too, I bet. He doesn't wanna fight, cuz if he loses he'll have to trust that Mender will be sober enough to fix him up, which ain't ever a sure thing. Can't say I blame her, though. If my job was tryin' to patch up the arena survivors after every match I'd probably turn to the bottle too. Seen some nasty-ass things in that place and that was from a distance. Dunno why she stays, probably doesn't have a choice. Mender will do what she can with needle and thread and meds for those who need a doc in Goldpond, but it'll cost ya and there's no guarantee she'll make it right.


Yeah, scarin' Twitch seems like the way to go. So I turn back to her, I reach out, caress her, whisper sweet nothings in her ear. "You got something for me, baby? Something I can use to scare Twitch? I know ya do..." (go into hoard and look for something useful)

 

[WlfSamurai]

Everyone: Now Goldpond, Outer Goldpond and beyond the Hardhold seem to have a bit of distance socially speaking. If you get hurt, anybody know any sawbones in the area? Or is this a place of bloodshed, not healing?

Far as I know, Di is the only "stitcher" I'm aware of. But she's all the out past The Flats. She wouldn't welcome me warmly either. I paralyzed half her face probing her brain. An early experiment.

Sin: Hah! Love it! So yeah, that Faced fuck is there looking at you behind his mask. In a surprisingly soft spoken voice you pick out, “She's in her room, for now. If you want her I suggest you get going now.” He's usually a bit of dickhead over things like this, almost a living embodiment of Hurry Up And Wait. However the boss lady is a fickle one at times, so he might very well be warranted this time.
Kinda seems like he wants you out of the room though, probably just him being Grumpy though. It's not like Faced show fear...right?


What do you do?

I shake my head. Fucking Grumpy. Bastard. Pushing out of my mind, I stride towards Hooper's room and walk in.


"Morning, Hooper."

 

[Skrakes]

Crow


"Listen here, freako, I'll do the run. I won't even ask what we're running. But first, stop fucking biting your fingers, and second, I'm going to need to charge for hazard. Deal?"

 

[Teh Frixz]

Hooper


"Sin. Follow me. I'm going out now. The city is noisy today"


The brainer. That little itsy bitsy piece of Goldpond that I don't have control over. The one thing my face couldn't put together properly for me. Since my face couldn't do it, I had to keep her close to keep an eye on her. Lots of folks I string up to die I find, brains all turned to mush. Their thoughts and feelings dripping out of their noses. The first few times it was funny but when I wanted someone to really suffer, she keeps taking them and 'releasing' them. Can't have that.


Especially because she's the only one that I allow to wander around Inner Goldpond. The Faced keep her tracked but she's too valuable to kill.