Session 13: Into the Slush Report

General Summary

The Crew started off walking into the Flow with the tones of an Acoustic Guitar echoing through the ship. They met with Sentinel Barrett, the older, one-legged man strumming the blues on his custom built guitar as they spoke. He let them know about the Game, joining the Guild, etc after they revealed their true purpose of coming to Xanti. He directed them to the Docks and they were led back out of the hidden hatch by the same man who had them rappel down the cliffside. Jason broke a rung on the ladder as he climbed up but they returned unscathed.   Meanwhile, Kyra looked for the device that was putting off the signal. She narrowed it down and they all recovered the device together. They cracked the case, built a rudimentary faraday cage, put a receiver inside, and powered it on long enough to get the signal. They worked together to crack not only the first layer of the signal they'd picked up before but the hidden layer of ship information and maps beneath it. They finished while Li was flying them to the Docks.   They crested high into the atmosphere to avoid the trees after hearing about the mighty beasts of Xanti that could supposedly knock a ship out of the sky. The ship's engines whirred and whined as the ice locked them up, but fortunately they were given plenty of cooldown time afterwards letting them recover. They hailed the city, landed in the wooden barricades, and left Warren & Chiara to guard the ship.   They met BHG: Sentinel Valla Libre as they entered the city. She briefed them on some of the general rules and they entered without further questions. They made their way to Val's Hall, befriended a bounty hunter with drinks that led them to the guide who led the only successfully returned team of bounty hunters from hunting William Blake, the Cerise team, who returned after losing their supply strider. They paid him 500 currency to buy gear and 7 striders.   They spent that time shopping for heated blankets, survival tents, warm clothing, etc. Kyra bought some samples of various flora on Xanti and gained an understanding of how to survive better on this harsh world. Dash hacked the bounty hunter's board via one of the terminals in the back of Val's Hall and got access to the bounty on William Blake, 7000 for the murder of the family as placed by BHG: Sentinel Nyla Dunham at the Stronghold Outpost. Li tried to befriend some Proven and learned some about the Renders, the great Apex Predators of the Slush.   They headed out 5 hours later into the Slush atop Striders. Mark led them out and they soon learned the 3 challenges they'd be facing while traveling the slush. They were forced to make Athletics/Physique to avoid SaddleSore (Starting at 1, increasing 1 each day, stopping after 3 cumulative successes) and the Cold (Starting at Physique 2, increasing 1 each day, dealing PhysStress on failure + Freezing Invoke if failed by 3+) during the day, which their specialty clothing they'd bought helped with. The first day, they spotted an IceHopper in the distance heading towards the docks that fled when they were seen. They rested at night on a slip of solid land that could set up the tent. They took set watches and learned the 3rd challenge, Sleep (Phys 2 + 1 daily, Failure gains Tired invoke and doesn't let Stress recover from the day). Their tent + blankets helped with that. During that day, Jason attempted to make a connection with Mark and failed.   The second day, they traveled easily and only Dash heard a bellowing roar of a far distant Render. That night, they slept on a large Ice Chunk. Li, during his 2nd watch shift, saw a head underneath the ice. He charged towards it and stabbed at it immediately. He ended up Mesmerized and they collectively held a skirmish against a Deep Drifter as it tried to pull Li under the ice with it. With Jason striking the final blow, they severed off one of it's long, webbed claws and it fled into the deep frozen waters under the ice. Jason had a vivid flashback of seeing a row of men he executed and successfully made some progress in gaining some details about a memory his mind seemed desperate to block him from having. Kyra spent some time trying to get to know Mark but only learned that the back of his head blinked red when he spoke.   They continued on to the 1st "kill site" the next day. They found 7 bodies and 7 striders and learned each was killed with a large caliber round. Dash found evidence of land mines having been taken from the site. They continued on and found another large ice chunk to sleep on. They rested and awoke to help Mark track the 4th day as he said they reached the extent of the trail he'd followed before. They tracked until coming to a broken IceHopper half-submerged in the Ice with a dented side and shredded tires. They found that its engine had been sabotaged, several of the 5 bodies were killed with long, cylindrical objects instead of the bullets, and an empty broken chest with 2 cube-like objects inside. They were unable to find more details about it. Li noticed that the back of Mark's head blinked often while they were on watch.   Dash used his ability to track his fate-marked target to lead them onward. They approached a cave as the sun started setting down towards the horizon. Dash, getting a strange vibe, asked Mark to scout it out. As he did so, a burst of turret fire came from the cave almost hitting Dash. They all fell into combat astride their LongStriders as the showdown began. A loud, bellowing roar like from a horn began bellowing out of the cave as Li desparately sent a signal to Alexa asking her to come pick them up.   Dash and Jason ran for the caves as they saw 2 turrets and a man shooting a large hand-cannon at them. Anna felt the brunt of Mark's sudden but inevitable betrayal as she narrowly avoided death by falling behind her Longstrider and letting it take the massive javelin-like arrow pierce and kill it instantly, though it still stabbed her deeply. One of the turrets began firing down and suppressing the area while the other shot between Dash and Jason. Li threw a grenade at Mark, almost killing his Strider. Kyra saved Anna from the Slush and they rode her Strider together towards the cave. Anna managed to rig up her datapad to send an electronic burst to attack Mark's systems.   Surrounded, Mark used a grappling arrow to fly to the top of the ice-covered cave. Jason attempted to climb up after him as Dash and William traded gunfire. Li fired on Mark until his assault rifle ran out of ammunition as the girls moved forward on their strider, having it shot by the still suppressing turret. Kyra attempted to help Jason climb by pointing out holds while Anna worked on hacking a turret. Mark began using his massive arrows to pierce into Li and Jason until he ran out as William and Dash continued trading blows, barbs, and gunfire. Li threw another grenade at Mark and entered melee, trading blows for arrows. Jason took a massive blow from the turret to the chest, leaving him and Dash to destroy one. William, having seen Dash's Hand of Fate, pushed for information and opted not to fire on him despite having just been wounded and having his shield lost from an incredible shot from Dash. The girls continued their attack on the turrets and support in pointing out weaknesses as Li was stunned then entangled by various arrows.  After continuing the fight until almost all of them were severely wounded, out of ammo, or almost killed, William and Dash called a truce as Dash took his offer to talk. One turret lay destroyed, 2 mines were found around the cave entrance and narrowly avoided, the horn was silenced (but after apparently luring a Render towards it only spotted 15ish minutes out in the Slush), one strider lay dead, and 2 LongStriders (Mark's and Kyra's) remained severely wounded on the verge of death. Li cut himself out and everyone made their way towards the cave as they each spotted the 20ft tall impending danger looming on the horizon.

Rewards Granted

Minor Milestone
4 Grenades (purchased)
4 Heating Blankets - +2 Comfort Rolls, Limited Power Cells
4 Winter Clothing Gear - +2 Physique vs Cold, A:1
7 Striders
14 Days of Food/Rations for 6 People
Basic Tent for 6 People / Upgraded "Comfort Tent" for 6 People - +2 Comfort Rolls

Character(s) interacted with

Met with BHG: Sentinel Barrett and his team on the Flow Outpost
Met BHG: Sentinel Valla Libre outside of the Xanti: Last Chance Docks
Met Val (briefly), Maria (barmaid), Alhald (Grizzled Mercenary), BHG: Mark 37-091, and a group of unnamed Proven who slew a Render in Val's Hall
Kyra met an unnamed herbalist in a Alchemical Shop in Last Chance Docks
Met Fatalist: William Blake in the Xanti: The Slush