SESSION 58: SHRED OF EVIDENCE
General Summary
Previous Session: SESSION 57: DIAMOND ISLAND AMBUSH PARTY
Next Session: SESSION 59: HESITATION, DETONATION, LIBERATION
Players: Current Adventuring Party, Andy, Arminius, Lex Garridan, Linda, Morag
*August 31, 2317*
(Adventure Day 129)
It had been a long day, and they had spent the previous night huddled in the van. Being able to get rooms in the Lodging Station with beds for everyone was a welcome change. Morag was sharing a twin room with Hyatt Colby. Hyatt was about as close as Morag had to a friend, the two of them often meeting as they sold meat or hides to various merchants. Though they were professional competitors, they had an understanding, one that wasn’t shared with the rest of the Colby family.
Hyatt was troubled. He explained that he had been here in The Capitol when Dixie had been invaded the day before. There was no way to know if his family were still alive. Hyatt was pretty sure that the combined forces of the New California Republic and The Capitol would make short work of his native region around Calvert City. The surprise attack probably meant a quick surrender. But his older brother Brett Colby would want to head south and connect with the army of the Great Southern Congress, fighting the invasion. Hyatt lamented that it was probably his duty to connect with the army as well, but he worried he might be throwing away his life for nothing. Morag offered to keep him safe if he traveled with the party, but Hyatt said he didn’t want to run to the Midwest.
The topic moved to Morag’s nature. Hyatt had heard that she had been around the Hatchie Forest since his grandparents’ day, yet she hadn’t aged, or changed much at all. Morag admitted that she was in a strange body, which probably was taken from some other persona and sent to Tennessee. She didn’t really know who she was, or exactly why she was this way, or what had been done to her former self. Hyatt was a bit confused but recommended that the rule of “finders keepers” probably applied even to bodies.
*September 1, 2317*
(Adventure Day 130)
The group gathered in the morning for breakfast. They sat together and discussed their next moves. Hyatt had asked them to kill Children of Atom Inquisitor Prosperine, currently injured and in treatment at the Posey Medical Station. They decided to thoroughly scout the area before they attempted anything. As they were leaving, they were approached by the Lodging Station’s clerk. The man, named Parrino, admitted that he had accidentally committed a crime. He had bought a beer from a foreign merchant and had been seen publicly complimenting the brew. To his horror, it turned out that Gwinett Ale had been brewed in The Commonwealth, the hated enemy of The Capitol. The Correctors had arrested him and confiscated the bottle. They had let him go on bail, but he was set for trial. Parrino explained that no one loved Great Leader more than him, it had been an honest mistake. He had actually hated the awful beer; he just hadn’t known it yet. They could help a good Capitol citizen by destroying the empty beer bottle in the evidence locker in the local Corrector Station. He was willing to pay them Capitol Credits for their troubles.
The party agreed to look into it and scouted out the Medical Station, which was right beside the Corrector Station. Seeing the murder of an Inquisitor as a drastic act, they decided to go after the bottle first. From the street, they were able to scope out the entire Corrector Station. There were guards, but not too many. Arminius put on Colonel Braxton’s old uniform and marched into the open door of the station. He stomped down the hallway as if he owned the place. When guards approached him, he did his best personation of an arrogant Capitol army officer, berating and ordering them around. The staff complained that the Correctors and army were different services, and that they didn’t answer to him. But Arminius lied, explaining that because there was war on they needed to listen to him.
Meanwhile, Andy used his mechanical knowledge to quietly break open a nearby window. Once there was a way, Morag hopped through the window and into the station. She deftly made her way to the evidence room, finding a locked metal box marked “current cases.” It was a large steel contraption. She was unlikely to be able to drag it out, and certainly not quietly. Every now and then, Morag had picked an old pre-war lock to get at some salvage, so she carried an electronic lockpicker. It wasn’t easy, but she got the box open and replaced the incriminating foreign beer bottle with a plain one they had gathered on their adventures. She slipped away and Andy closed the window again, making sure to hide any of the damage he had done.
They returned to Parrino with the Gwinett bottle. He was disgusted with the offending object and demanded it be destroyed. He did pay out the reward, and then they were planning Inquisitor Prosperine’s murder. Andy paid close attention to the ethics at play, trying to make sense of the subtleties. It was determined that the operation required too much stealth and charm for most of the group. Linda and Andy would wait at the local People’s Tavern during the operation. Lex took position a sniper position outside of the Medical Station while Arminius and Morag entered.
The chief doctor, a woman named Honey was friendly and inviting. She told them that she was intensely loyal to Great Leader, of course, but perhaps there was a West Coast Brotherhood of Steel member nearby who might want to talk to foreigners. This man, Lancer Theseus, might have information valuable to the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. Unfortunately, they had killed Lancer Theseus the day before, so they asked Doctor Honey about Inquisitor Prosperine. She said he was in the containment room because he was so radioactive. His fission vehicle had leaked, and he was so dangerous to approach that they couldn’t even treat him. Arminius noted that he had a hazmat suit to protect him from the dangerous rays, so he offered to see the patient. Doctor Honey agreed enthusiastically.
Arminius donned his hazmat suit and entered the containment room. He found Prosperine laying on an operating table. The Inquisitor was so radioactive, he glowed. But looking closer, the Inquisitor had no burns. The man appeared to be suffering from extreme heat exhaustion, but not radiation sickness. Doing what he came for, he gave the Inquisitor a quick death. But wanted to investigate the potentially life-saving mystery of Prosperine’s radiation resistance, he drew some blood from the cadaver. He then began to roll the body over, looking to take a core of bone marrow from the spine.
With Arminius taking a long time and banging around in the containment room, Doctor Honey became curious. Morag looked to make a distraction, falling to the ground in a simulated accident. The doctor saw through it and became angry. She knocked on the window of the containment room and accused Arminius of being “one of those foreign perverts who likes to do sex stuff with unconscious patients!”
Meanwhile, Andy and Linda were in the local People’s Tavern. Ilora the bartender asked if they wanted some boiling hot Nuka-Cola, a traditional morning drink in these parts. Linda ordered one and they began to talk. Ilora, full of Southern hospitality (and Capitol propaganda), went on and on about Great Leader and how Linda was a monster. Linda, having personally met Wyatt, talked to Ilona plainly, calmly telling her the truth. But Ilona was offended by Linda’s words. It took Hyatt Colby, sitting in the corner, to calm the scene. Andy watched the entire exchange, noting everything. Upon serving Linda her hot Nuka-Cola, Ilona asked both her and Andy to go out on the tavern’s patio, away from her presence.
Arminius left the containment room and attempted to calm down Doctor Honey. Lex watched through her rifle’s scope, ready to fire if necessary. Morag joined in the conversation, trying to help. Arminius explained that although he couldn’t save Prosperine, the man had radiation resistance that needed to be studied for the good of the wasteland. Morag stepped in, adding that Arminius was a specialist in the field of radiation exposure and certainly not a pervert who mistreated sleeping patients. Doctor Honey was convinced. She apologized, explaining that she had forgotten how horrible life was outside The Capitol, and how desperately those poor people who lived beyond Great Leader’s protection needed radiation treatment. Arminius was allowed to go back into the containment room and finish taking samples from the corpse.
Arminius, Lex and Morag returned to the People’s Tavern where Morag met up with Hyatt Colby. Morag’s friend now had an excuse to leave, having not paid the Colby debt to the Inquisitors. Hyatt said he would check on his family, and then most likely sign on with Dixie’s army. To that end, he asked Morag that while she was off being a hero that she not forget Dixie. She promised she wouldn’t, and they parted.
As Linda was enjoying a fine summer day on the patio, she was approached by a Capitol citizen. He was a big man, hairy and broad shouldered. He had a problem with Linda instantly, accusing all super mutants of being mindless savages who thought they were better than everyone. Great Leader had expelled them, which meant they couldn’t possibly be as strong as it was said. Linda was mostly confused, having never identified as a super mutant. This accusatory man challenged her to an arm-wrestling match, though Linda was at least a foot and a half taller and had huge radiation-fueled muscles. Unsurprisingly, the contest did not last long. The man dislocated his shoulder trying to move Linda’s arm, giving out a pained scream.
A group of Capitol villagers began to form around the scene. Someone said to get the arm-wrestler to the Medical Station. Someone else said to get the Correctors. The party didn’t want any of that trouble, so they gathered and left the village. Safely at the edge of town, they decided to investigate a local landmark, a single small cave in a field.
The cave was shallow and showed signs of a human living there. And upon closer inspection, there was an older woman walking around. She was haggard, with a mad look in her eye. They tried to speak to her, and she complained that her head was filled with “waves of destiny, always washing themselves away.” Talking to her was going nowhere, until she asked if any of them knew an Alexandra. The mad woman explained that the voice in her head had given her a message for Alexandra: “She should free the Serpent. The Serpent comes back around to help her.” Arminius recalled that there had been one prisoner in the local Corrector Station. It had been a Rustlands caravan guard named Serpent who had been imprisoned for assaulting a local.
Lex was intrigued at the idea of this Serpent being able to help her at some point in the future. She looked intently into the haggard woman’s eyes… and then grimaced in horrible pain. Lex collapsed to the ground, holding her head. Nothing in the environment seemed to change, and the strange woman in the cave just looked on despondently.
From this wooded area, they could see a group of Correctors searching the old ruins at the edge of town. The bodies of the NCR unit (and Lancer Theseus) that they had left there the day before would be open for the Capitol police to find. And Lex was tired and needed time to recuperate. They decided to make a hidden camp and wait for nightfall. Under the cover of darkness, they might have a shot at freeing this Serpent person…
Next Session: SESSION 59: HESITATION, DETONATION, LIBERATION
Next Session: SESSION 59: HESITATION, DETONATION, LIBERATION
Players: Current Adventuring Party, Andy, Arminius, Lex Garridan, Linda, Morag
*August 31, 2317*
(Adventure Day 129)
It had been a long day, and they had spent the previous night huddled in the van. Being able to get rooms in the Lodging Station with beds for everyone was a welcome change. Morag was sharing a twin room with Hyatt Colby. Hyatt was about as close as Morag had to a friend, the two of them often meeting as they sold meat or hides to various merchants. Though they were professional competitors, they had an understanding, one that wasn’t shared with the rest of the Colby family.
Hyatt was troubled. He explained that he had been here in The Capitol when Dixie had been invaded the day before. There was no way to know if his family were still alive. Hyatt was pretty sure that the combined forces of the New California Republic and The Capitol would make short work of his native region around Calvert City. The surprise attack probably meant a quick surrender. But his older brother Brett Colby would want to head south and connect with the army of the Great Southern Congress, fighting the invasion. Hyatt lamented that it was probably his duty to connect with the army as well, but he worried he might be throwing away his life for nothing. Morag offered to keep him safe if he traveled with the party, but Hyatt said he didn’t want to run to the Midwest.
The topic moved to Morag’s nature. Hyatt had heard that she had been around the Hatchie Forest since his grandparents’ day, yet she hadn’t aged, or changed much at all. Morag admitted that she was in a strange body, which probably was taken from some other persona and sent to Tennessee. She didn’t really know who she was, or exactly why she was this way, or what had been done to her former self. Hyatt was a bit confused but recommended that the rule of “finders keepers” probably applied even to bodies.
*September 1, 2317*
(Adventure Day 130)
The group gathered in the morning for breakfast. They sat together and discussed their next moves. Hyatt had asked them to kill Children of Atom Inquisitor Prosperine, currently injured and in treatment at the Posey Medical Station. They decided to thoroughly scout the area before they attempted anything. As they were leaving, they were approached by the Lodging Station’s clerk. The man, named Parrino, admitted that he had accidentally committed a crime. He had bought a beer from a foreign merchant and had been seen publicly complimenting the brew. To his horror, it turned out that Gwinett Ale had been brewed in The Commonwealth, the hated enemy of The Capitol. The Correctors had arrested him and confiscated the bottle. They had let him go on bail, but he was set for trial. Parrino explained that no one loved Great Leader more than him, it had been an honest mistake. He had actually hated the awful beer; he just hadn’t known it yet. They could help a good Capitol citizen by destroying the empty beer bottle in the evidence locker in the local Corrector Station. He was willing to pay them Capitol Credits for their troubles.
The party agreed to look into it and scouted out the Medical Station, which was right beside the Corrector Station. Seeing the murder of an Inquisitor as a drastic act, they decided to go after the bottle first. From the street, they were able to scope out the entire Corrector Station. There were guards, but not too many. Arminius put on Colonel Braxton’s old uniform and marched into the open door of the station. He stomped down the hallway as if he owned the place. When guards approached him, he did his best personation of an arrogant Capitol army officer, berating and ordering them around. The staff complained that the Correctors and army were different services, and that they didn’t answer to him. But Arminius lied, explaining that because there was war on they needed to listen to him.
Meanwhile, Andy used his mechanical knowledge to quietly break open a nearby window. Once there was a way, Morag hopped through the window and into the station. She deftly made her way to the evidence room, finding a locked metal box marked “current cases.” It was a large steel contraption. She was unlikely to be able to drag it out, and certainly not quietly. Every now and then, Morag had picked an old pre-war lock to get at some salvage, so she carried an electronic lockpicker. It wasn’t easy, but she got the box open and replaced the incriminating foreign beer bottle with a plain one they had gathered on their adventures. She slipped away and Andy closed the window again, making sure to hide any of the damage he had done.
They returned to Parrino with the Gwinett bottle. He was disgusted with the offending object and demanded it be destroyed. He did pay out the reward, and then they were planning Inquisitor Prosperine’s murder. Andy paid close attention to the ethics at play, trying to make sense of the subtleties. It was determined that the operation required too much stealth and charm for most of the group. Linda and Andy would wait at the local People’s Tavern during the operation. Lex took position a sniper position outside of the Medical Station while Arminius and Morag entered.
The chief doctor, a woman named Honey was friendly and inviting. She told them that she was intensely loyal to Great Leader, of course, but perhaps there was a West Coast Brotherhood of Steel member nearby who might want to talk to foreigners. This man, Lancer Theseus, might have information valuable to the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. Unfortunately, they had killed Lancer Theseus the day before, so they asked Doctor Honey about Inquisitor Prosperine. She said he was in the containment room because he was so radioactive. His fission vehicle had leaked, and he was so dangerous to approach that they couldn’t even treat him. Arminius noted that he had a hazmat suit to protect him from the dangerous rays, so he offered to see the patient. Doctor Honey agreed enthusiastically.
Arminius donned his hazmat suit and entered the containment room. He found Prosperine laying on an operating table. The Inquisitor was so radioactive, he glowed. But looking closer, the Inquisitor had no burns. The man appeared to be suffering from extreme heat exhaustion, but not radiation sickness. Doing what he came for, he gave the Inquisitor a quick death. But wanted to investigate the potentially life-saving mystery of Prosperine’s radiation resistance, he drew some blood from the cadaver. He then began to roll the body over, looking to take a core of bone marrow from the spine.
With Arminius taking a long time and banging around in the containment room, Doctor Honey became curious. Morag looked to make a distraction, falling to the ground in a simulated accident. The doctor saw through it and became angry. She knocked on the window of the containment room and accused Arminius of being “one of those foreign perverts who likes to do sex stuff with unconscious patients!”
Meanwhile, Andy and Linda were in the local People’s Tavern. Ilora the bartender asked if they wanted some boiling hot Nuka-Cola, a traditional morning drink in these parts. Linda ordered one and they began to talk. Ilora, full of Southern hospitality (and Capitol propaganda), went on and on about Great Leader and how Linda was a monster. Linda, having personally met Wyatt, talked to Ilona plainly, calmly telling her the truth. But Ilona was offended by Linda’s words. It took Hyatt Colby, sitting in the corner, to calm the scene. Andy watched the entire exchange, noting everything. Upon serving Linda her hot Nuka-Cola, Ilona asked both her and Andy to go out on the tavern’s patio, away from her presence.
Arminius left the containment room and attempted to calm down Doctor Honey. Lex watched through her rifle’s scope, ready to fire if necessary. Morag joined in the conversation, trying to help. Arminius explained that although he couldn’t save Prosperine, the man had radiation resistance that needed to be studied for the good of the wasteland. Morag stepped in, adding that Arminius was a specialist in the field of radiation exposure and certainly not a pervert who mistreated sleeping patients. Doctor Honey was convinced. She apologized, explaining that she had forgotten how horrible life was outside The Capitol, and how desperately those poor people who lived beyond Great Leader’s protection needed radiation treatment. Arminius was allowed to go back into the containment room and finish taking samples from the corpse.
Arminius, Lex and Morag returned to the People’s Tavern where Morag met up with Hyatt Colby. Morag’s friend now had an excuse to leave, having not paid the Colby debt to the Inquisitors. Hyatt said he would check on his family, and then most likely sign on with Dixie’s army. To that end, he asked Morag that while she was off being a hero that she not forget Dixie. She promised she wouldn’t, and they parted.
As Linda was enjoying a fine summer day on the patio, she was approached by a Capitol citizen. He was a big man, hairy and broad shouldered. He had a problem with Linda instantly, accusing all super mutants of being mindless savages who thought they were better than everyone. Great Leader had expelled them, which meant they couldn’t possibly be as strong as it was said. Linda was mostly confused, having never identified as a super mutant. This accusatory man challenged her to an arm-wrestling match, though Linda was at least a foot and a half taller and had huge radiation-fueled muscles. Unsurprisingly, the contest did not last long. The man dislocated his shoulder trying to move Linda’s arm, giving out a pained scream.
A group of Capitol villagers began to form around the scene. Someone said to get the arm-wrestler to the Medical Station. Someone else said to get the Correctors. The party didn’t want any of that trouble, so they gathered and left the village. Safely at the edge of town, they decided to investigate a local landmark, a single small cave in a field.
The cave was shallow and showed signs of a human living there. And upon closer inspection, there was an older woman walking around. She was haggard, with a mad look in her eye. They tried to speak to her, and she complained that her head was filled with “waves of destiny, always washing themselves away.” Talking to her was going nowhere, until she asked if any of them knew an Alexandra. The mad woman explained that the voice in her head had given her a message for Alexandra: “She should free the Serpent. The Serpent comes back around to help her.” Arminius recalled that there had been one prisoner in the local Corrector Station. It had been a Rustlands caravan guard named Serpent who had been imprisoned for assaulting a local.
Lex was intrigued at the idea of this Serpent being able to help her at some point in the future. She looked intently into the haggard woman’s eyes… and then grimaced in horrible pain. Lex collapsed to the ground, holding her head. Nothing in the environment seemed to change, and the strange woman in the cave just looked on despondently.
From this wooded area, they could see a group of Correctors searching the old ruins at the edge of town. The bodies of the NCR unit (and Lancer Theseus) that they had left there the day before would be open for the Capitol police to find. And Lex was tired and needed time to recuperate. They decided to make a hidden camp and wait for nightfall. Under the cover of darkness, they might have a shot at freeing this Serpent person…
Next Session: SESSION 59: HESITATION, DETONATION, LIBERATION
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
03 Dec 2022
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