Chapter Nine: An Invitation on the Wheel

General Summary

At 4:47pm on January 31st, 2162, the discontents were all introduced to the leader of Nature's Samsara, Dahlia Munoz. She welcomed them to walk around and explore as she and Ivan Sprouse would tell the community they had some newcomers. She let them go as Winston, the son of Pete Deyes was seen in the background of the main meeting area on The Elko Commune.
At the group's request, Ivan offered to give a tour to the discontents of the commune. They were able to fine where they were staying in the Chrysathumum house, one of the three built up living quarters, as well as the kitchen and dining areas, some storage areas and places were goods and materials are bult or constructed. Sebastian noticed that there was a path that Ivan did not lead them down that Ivan then left them for.
From there, the discontents had their own paths to handle their new assignments from Delaera: bring back Winston Deyes and Tesla Price. Wei decided to volunteer to help in the kitchen area and met Tabitha Ellis, the only other mandarin speaker on the commune. He helped for a bit peeling vegetables. Wei kept an eye out in the central area for Tesla as he worked. Sebastian, with the same aims, went to help in the commune's greenhouse, meeting York Shi. He helped with removing seeds from rotten vegetables. James decided to wander around the commune and met Celeste Munoz who tried to make sure James and the rest of the group was acclimated. Raymond, overwhelmed with the implication of Winston's abuse by Dahlia and how it related to his deceased wife's experience, decided to spend some quiet moments on his own in their given lodging area.
Soon after, James and Wei went back to the "Mum" house and spoke with Raymond about their next steps. They made sure to keep their stories straight for when they would be introduced to the commune the next day, as Dahlia had promised in their initial meeting. Sebastian met them up quickly to compare notes before it was tieme for the communal dinner.
Celeste and Tabitha both decided to sit with the discontents at dinner in hopes to get to know them. James put on his usual charm offensive with both, as Wei spoke with Tabitha. Raymond and Sebastian spoke to each other about their suspicions in low tones. James was able to observe that Winston sat next to Dahlia during dinner, each keeping an arm over the other as they sat and socialized. He also observed a brown hair toddler that would be around the same age as Tesla's daughter, Abigail, at a table with adults and young chldren. Yet no one saw Tesla.
Sebastian helped Ivan pull out a mattress from a storage space, and noticed that mattress was less dusty than the other two it was next to, and found it suspcious. After that task, Raymond decided to walk by the table while heading back to the "Mum" house and overhear some conversation. He heard a snippet of a conversation where a young girl Constance asked Ivan if they could play hide and seek again out on the mountain by themselves, and Ivan clarifying they should do it on a nature walk with the other kids.
That night, the group decided to check out the path that Ivan did not show on his tour. It turned out to be a small one room school house with locked up inteactive tablets and large display screens. The searched it high and low and found no secrets hidden in there. As Sebastian went to take another look around the schoolhouse, he saw from the path a woman in the darkness holding a small child on her hip. As he approached her she rushed away back to the rest of the commune. The discontents go back to their lodgings and take turns sleeping, still uneasy of their new surroundings.
The next morning, some of the group slept in while others enjoyed the sticky fruit bars and tea for breakfast. James decided to walk around the perimeter of the commune, noting that the commune itself wasn't patrolled itself around its borders. He also bumped into Celeste again and got an idea of the introduction meeting that would happen that afternoon for himself and the fellow disontents. Wei went back to help with the kitchen with Tabitha, being volunteered to help give a seasonal scrub to the oven. Sebastian brought Raymond with him back to the greenhouse, where they started to sort some of the seeds that were retrieved the day before. After an hour or so, Sebastian was summoned for a conversation outside with an auburn haired woman, seemingly in her 30s. She immediately asked what he was doing around the schoolhouse the night before. Sebastian denied continually. The woman said she would tell the leadership about the incident and Sebastian was mostly silent and conitnuing to deny the situation. When she left, Sebastian recounted to Raymond the situation, to which Raymond casually relayed that they may be in trouble.
James had happned by the greenhouse to share his discoveries and then was told about the situation. Quickly thinking of a plan, the three went to talk to Wei and consider their options. James decided he would rach out to Celeste on his own. He found her siting in the main meeting area of the cabin along with Dahlia, Winston, and another teenage girl that strongly resembled Dahlia. James spoke to Dahlia for a bit about his own resaon for joinigng the commune when a woman entered wanting to speak to Dahlia about the newcomers. On the spot James interrupted to apologize for his friends drunkeness and casual lying that they may have done over the last day. This explained why they had to get Raymond fresh air around the commune and ended up at the schoolhouse, and Sebastians compulsion to lie about being seen there. Hearing about Sebastian's issue, Dahlia offered to tutor him one on one about the tenants of the faith and how lying brought about pain, and felt that Celeste could handle the issues that bothered both Raymond and James for support.
James thanked Dahlia for the grace and then quickly got the group back together to let them know the terms of the situation, stating that they may be more cemented now in where they are.
It is now 1:30pm on Feburary 1st, 2162.

Missions/Quests Completed

The PCs have several clues toward the situation with Tesla Price