It’s been quite a while since I’ve played this game and I’ve gotten bored with it, then excited about it, then bored with it, and then excited about it in a vicious loop. That’s how I tend to engage with solo role playing and it doesn’t feel very healthy. For one thing, it prevents me from ever finishing a story! And, I want to finish stories. Stories are what make TTRPGs so fulfilling and fun.
So, this is me coming back to a game and doing my best to make a rockin’ part 2!
OOC:
I ended last “session” by giving Joan the keys to my car so she can drive us to where we’re going while I get some sleep. I don’t know where we’re going. I’ll draw a GameMaster’s Apprentice card to get a location: Disaster Site! Oooh, I’m curious now! What kind of disaster site? More cards to give me some inspiration: Humiliate Artificial Skill. Hmmm, what could that be? I’m going to go with a collapsed building that was supposed to be some altar to advanced technology that was built without proper planning or consideration for that advanced tech. The company’s name is CityX.
IC:
Joan shook me awake and I blinked through the flashes of street lamps passing by us at a slow pace. “What?” I began, turning to look at her. She smiled down at me, glancing up at the road as she removed her hand from my shoulder.
“We made it. We’re here,” she answered my unspoken question.
I reached down and pulled the lever that let my seat back swing back up as I sat up. “Where is here?”
“The CityX disaster site,” she said, gesturing to the lights at the end of the road we were on.
“Why are we here?” I asked in confusion. “What does this disaster have to do with the servitor?”
OOC:
Ah, isn’t this the best part of solo rpgs? I have no clue what the connection is, but I’m about to figure that out! I think that she’s tracked other sightings or interactions with this servitor and this disaster site is the central location. That makes sense to me.
IC:
“This is the central point revealed by my tracking efforts of the servitor,” she answered, matter-of-fact. “There has to be some kind of connection.”
So, she had no idea what the connection could be. Wonderful. I rubbed my eyes to clear them and cracked my jaw with a yawn. “OK, then. Well, how are we going to get in?” I asked. She looked at me like I was stupid. Perhaps I was, or am.
“We’re going to break in, of course,” she finally said. Great.
She parked my car about a block away and then we walked up to the disaster site. Chain link fence surrounded the site and large bulldozers and back hoes and other construction equipment surrounded the building. Without pausing, Joan grabbed the fence and hopped over it, looking to me to follow her.
OOC:
Time to see if Casper has it in him! He’s got three dots in Athletics, so probably. Roll: 0 successes.
IC:
The spikes at the top of the chain link grabbed my pants and tore a long hold in my pants as I leapt to the ground. “Great,” I signed under my breath. Joan just smothered a grin.
I looked over the disaster area. “OK, what are we looking for?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “Whatever. Any clue that will tell us why the servitor is centered around this area.”
“A needle in a haystack; gotcha,” I answered. Sarcasm always comes to my defense.
She pulled two flashlights out of a pocket and handed me one. “We’ll split up. They might have cameras and someone might already be on their way. You go that way,” she said, gesturing to the right, “and I’ll go the other. Call out if you find anything interesting.”
I took the light, and went the indicated direction.
OOC:
This will be a Wits + Investigation roll. I think I’ll remove two dice because, if something were obvious, the workers would have likely removed it already. That leaves me two dice. I’ll spend Willpower to add 3. Roll: 1 success. What do I find? Drawing a GameMaster’s Apprentice card: Sheet music, digital player, archive of personal compositions. Odd, but cool.
IC:
I approached the enormous pile of rubble and started to peer into it with my flashlight. There was a light coating of dust everywhere, and I knew it probably wasn’t safe to breath it in. And I didn’t even have a face mask. I pulled my shirt above my nose for what little protection it offered.
I developed a method: I’d step up onto a large chunk of debris, then peer in all the gaps and holes I could reach from that debris with the flashlight. After about fifteen minutes, I found myself about a third of the way up on the pile and with a discovery. It was a small, metal box. I think it had been a clipboard before the disaster. I was able to force it open and found a small iPod, some sheets of music, and some blank sheets with musical notes drawn on them. It seemed weird, so I called Joan over.
OOC:
Is this kind of thing what the witch in question uses for magic? Does Joan even know? I’m just going to say Yes to that.
IC:
Joan scampered over the debris, I swear I thought she was going to cause some kind of cave-in or rock-slide. She arrived without dying or killing me, and took a look at what I’d found. Her face cracked into a wide grin.
“This is it!” she exclaimed. “This is our connection?”
“How do you know?” I asked.
OOC:
This seems like a great time for the witch in question to appear and take their stuff back. Does that happen? Good odds: Yes. The GMA cards have spoken!
IC:
“I’ll be taking those back,” a smooth baritone voice called out from a shadow. I started in surprise, almost spilling the papers on the ground. There were hardly any shadows here because of all the work lights shining on it. How had this guy sneaked up on us?
OOC:
A GMA card gave me this guy’s name: Niall. Does Joan know him? It seems likely. Answer is: Yes. But not a critical yes.
IC:
“Niall,” Joan said, her face going hard. “How did you know I was here?”
OOC:
Did Niall have some kind of magickal ward up? Or just mundane tech? Roll high or low says mundane tech.
IC:
The man smiled at her and gestured back to the trailer office sitting by the locked entry gate. “Oh, the foreman is a friend of mine. He lets me watch the security camera feeds. And, when the motion detector went off and I saw it was you, I just had to come see you in person.”
I looked between Joan and this Niall. “So, you two know each other?” I asked.
OOC:
And, how does Niall know Casper? Why would his servitor try to grab him? He probably has some kind of goal that he needs Casper for. I’ll roll with that!
IC:
Before Joan could say anything, Niall cut in, “Oh, yes, we know all about each other. And, I know you too, Casper. I’m a big fan of your work.”
Ice ran down my back and I almost shivered with the chill. “How— how do you know me?” I asked, failing to keep the quaver out of my voice. “How could you possibly know what I do?”
Niall shook his head with a mischievous grin. “No, I don’t think so,” he said, simply. “Just give me back my stuff. And we’ll leave proper introductions for another day.”
Joan glanced at me and said under her voice, “Run!” I slammed the metal box closed and turned to run.
OOC:
I’ll have a -1 because of the unstable footing, and another -1 for the torn pants. My Dexterity + Athletics is 5 dice, plus 1 for a Specialty in running. I’m rolling 4 dice! I won’t spend Willpower. Roll: 3 successes!
IC:
I ran. My morning workouts had not quite prepared me for exactly this, but I was in shape enough that I didn’t have too much difficulty. I heard Niall snarl something, but I didn’t look back to see if he was following me. I got to the fence and jumped up, trying to flip over it as fast as I could.
OOC:
It seems right to have to roll for the climb as well. I’ll have -1 dice for the box in my hand. One success! Is he following me? Good odds: Yes.
IC:
I flipped over the fence and heard my pants rip some more. As I was back-stepping away from the chain link, Niall slammed into it scaring the crap out of me. Almost literally. I turned and ran as fast as I could. I heard him climb the fence behind me and start to run after me.
OOC:
Does Niall give up the chase after some time? Bad odds: No. I’ll need to roll Stamina + Athletics to outlast him. I don’t have stats for him and don’t want to roll against myself. I’ll just roll with a -1 for being chased. Roll: 3 successes again. My boy can run!
IC:
I ran, and kept running. I ran past where my car was parked, and had no idea where Joan had run to. I ran and ran, doing everything I could to stay at least one step ahead of Niall. After a while, I heard him slow as he tired out.
“Don’t think you’re safe, Jasper!” he called after me. “I know where you work! I’ll come find you, and you’ll give me back what belongs to me. And I won’t be so nice about it!”
I kept running for another five minutes before I felt that I’d finally lost him. Then I slowed, found someplace to sit, and let the fear work its way through me. I shivered on that park bench for close to ten minutes before Joan finally found me. She sat down next to me and eased the metal box out from my grip.
The lid creaked when she opened it. “He must have lost this in the collapse. He obviously needs it. And you. Why does he need you?” she asked me.
Words failed me. I tried to answer that I hadn’t the faintest clue, but couldn’t manage to say anything. I just shrugged. She accepted that answer.
After another couple minutes, she sighed and stood. “Let’s get back to your car and get back home. But, not your home. If he knows where you work, it’s a good bet he knows where you live. I’ve got a safe house you can use for the foreseeable future. At least until we take care of him.”
I nodded and stood to follow her.
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