Lost in the SOX
| Lost in the SOX | |||||||||
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ShadowHaven Decoy-5 Guillaume | Toxic Critters | ||||||||
| Astrid |
Radhound Pack Rock Piercer Sea Leech Toxic Spirits | ||||||||
| This was an initiation ordeal. | |||||||||
Summary
In which Astrid tracks down her old tribe in the SOX.
Background
Astrid has been in the SOX since the conclusion of Rad Wars 2084, having spent the cold season in the old Luxembourg village which she helped Guillaume take over in Zone de Réseautage - now that the weather is getting more forgiving, she dedicates herself to searching for her old tribe in earnest.
The Meet
As spring arrives in the SOX, Guillaume meets with Astrid and tells her that a pair of travelers came into town looking for fresh water and spoke of a tribal who had been staying at a nearby farmhouse while healing from an injury - Astrid recognizes the description of iconography from her old tribe and decides to pursue this lead, having her associate Decoy-5 accompany her on the journey. En-route the pair encounter some trouble with a pack of radhounds, but with some clever maneuvering manage to navigate around their territory and reach the farmhouse with no real issues.
The Plan
At the farmhouse, Astrid runs into Francois, who is overjoyed to see her and spends a bit of time catching up before explaining that he is looking for his brother Andre, who was taken by "the blue cube people" several months ago - Astrid recognizes the "blue cube" as the logo for MCT, who she recently witnessed fighting in the Rad Wars. She tells Francois that she will help search for his missing brother, but first they need to locate the rest of the tribe, who she has been trying to find for a good while now. Francois confirms that they've had a rough go of it lately but the majority of members (including Astrid's immediate family) are still alive, and have relocated to an abandoned "eight-pointed star people" (i.e. NeoNET) base in the eastern area of the SOX. With their goal in mind, the trio set out on a wasteland odyssey.
The Run
On the first day of the journey, Astrid encounters a rock piercer - a toxic boar - which she is able to pacify with a combination of animal handling skills, magic, and advice from her mentor spirit. Leading the creature away from its polluted den, she finds a safe place where she is able to partially purge the corruption and heal the radiation damage the poor critter has accumulated over time; her totem leads the boar away to find a new nest, then for the rest of the trip serves as a spirit guide, occasionally appearing out of the corner of Astrid's eye to lead her towards the path to her destination.
The trip is taxing for even the experienced SOX travelers, especially on foot - thankfully Astrid is well-provisioned and has an experienced guide on hand as well as a veteran tribal to watch her back. With their combined knowledge the group are able to avoid the worst of the radioactive and polluted hotspots, though this adds both time and distance to their trek. The weather is, thankfully, good for the most part, meaning that at least they don't have to contend with acid rain or rad storms. The main danger comes from the hazardous environment, requiring the druid to push her survival skills to their limits in order to traverse the more hostile areas.
After several days of travel - along with an encounter with MET-2000 which Astrid is thankfully able to diffuse by offering an amicable exchange of contraband (i.e. bribing the soldiers with chocolate and cigarettes to forget they ever saw them), a near-miss with a pack of ghouls, a run-in with toxic spirits, and a night spent in a town occupied by Rad Punks - the trio arrive at a wide river which must be forded to reach their destination. Astrid is nearly bitten by an enormous aquatic leech before being dragged back to shore, but after a bit of walking in order to find a less hazardous place to cross they are able to make it to the other side safely.
Finally arriving at the old NeoNET bio-domes, Astrid waves a flag and identifies herself to the tribal lookouts, who bring her to the area that they have reclaimed. She tells them what happened to her, how she was inadvertently taken out of the SOX by runners, and they are obviously glad to hear that she still lives. The tribals in turn tell her of their troubles, how resource shortages and clashes with glow punks forced them out of their previous turf, and how they've recently been dealing with "digital ghosts" possessing those who venture too far into the "star people" facility. Astrid makes the connection to something she heard about in Boston, NeoNET's old HQ, and tells them she will find assistance to deal with the problem once she's able to recover Andre from the "cube people".
Aftermath
Astrid spends a few days reconnecting with her family and friends before being contacted by other members of the Haven for a rescue mission in the MCT facility which is holding Andre captive - leading into Séquence en Cascade.
Rewards
8 karma
16 CDP
IG discount
+2 SOX Tribals rep
+8 Wild reputation
Optional Quality: Spirit Affinity (Beast Spirits)
May raise Decoy-5 and Guillaume's loyalty to 5
May acquire SOX bolt holes in the village and the NeoNET dome