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| TM and © 2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC. |
What follows is an account of the events during a session of my Toybox Campaign. This summary is written out in a prose format which may, for the sake of telling a story to a wider audience, take liberties with the events.
Any internal thoughts I portray the characters as having are my assumptions rather than confirmed by my players. Any future conflicts of personality are more likely a result of my assumptions, rather than actual player inconsistency.
If you want to stay updated on the events of the Toybox crew, but don't want to read through the whole prose write-up, a summary follows at the end.
If you want to start the story from the beginning, check out the first episode.
If you want to see what just happened, check out the previous episode.
If you want to continue the story, check out the next episode.
For more information on the Toybox Campaign, check out the Toybox Homepage.
Episode Main Cast
Episode 102
Up to Speed
The Toybox grew to occupy the hall, and a wave of orange energy surrounded User, drawing him back into the Toybox. Where he had gone, Alal and Katrin now stood.
"This isn't where we were before," Alal noted, looking around the dark hallway. "What's going on?"
"Well," Jack said. "We walked through the woods to some needle-like tower things, and then we followed a path that led us here."
"I see," Alal answered.
"Where did you two come from?"
"We were back inside the Toybox," Alal confirmed.
"Did you see the dead bodies?" Jack asked.
"Yes."
"It's sort of morbid in there, isn't it?"
"The bodies aren't decaying," Alal said. "Which is worrying."
"That is worrying," Jack agreed.
"I'm Alal, by the way," Alal said.
"And I'm Katrin!" she interjected.
"Jack," Jack said. "Me and this woman..." he gestured to the well-dressed woman "...we came out of the Toybox as well."
"Good to meet you," Alal said.
"Who are you?" Katrin asked Mizuki.
"I'm Mizuki," the woman answered. "I'm a W.R.E.N.C.H.!"
"What's that stand for?" Katrin asked.
"Willingly Reaching for Enrichment, Nurturing, Change, and History!"
The group spent a few minutes informing Katrin and Alal of the details of what had happened since they had been taken back into the Toybox. After this, the blue-clad man turned his attention to getting the door ahead of them opened.
He approached the door, hoping that he could open it just a crack, but he found that the doors were sturdily held in place, and that a mechanical system was required to make them open. Finding a nearby control panel, the man in blue got the mechanism working. The doors slid apart in the middle, opening by sliding into the wall of the doorframe.
The room on the other side was small and square. Another door could be seen directly across the room from the one that had just opened. Beside that door was another control panel.
The blue clad man walked slowly into the room. After nothing happened and he appeared safe, the others followed him.
The blue clad man set to working on the control panel. This one was fairly simple, and he decided on the right pattern of buttons to press. When he did, the door they had just entered through closed. A rumbling sound was heard, and those within the room felt as if their stomachs were dropping out beneath them.
Mutants and Abhumans
When the sensation stopped, the door opened. On the other side of the door was a short hall, ending at another cross-hall and a ladder along that wall. Standing at the end of the hall, in front of the ladder, were two abhumans, each with a different goat-like aspect. |
| TM and © 2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC |
Katrin rushed into battle along side of him, engaging with the other abhuman.
"What are we calling you?" she asked.
"Nothing yet," the blue-clad man answered.
"Okay, I'll start calling you nothing then," she said, swinging her blades and slicing her foe once with each of them.
"We're not having a conversation in the middle of a fight!" the blue-clad man insisted.
Clio moved forward and in one fluid motion notched, drew back, and fired an arrow. It flew over the blue-clad man's shoulder and struck the abhuman he'd been fighting. The goat-creature fell to the ground, no longer moving.
Following suit, the well-dressed woman drew out a bladed throwing disk which she threw at the abhuman Katrin was fighting. The disk hit true and the creature fell.
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| TM and © 2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC |
The crow abhuman spotted Durst, and he could feel a warning of "Intruder!" that the abhuman seemed to have called out. Down below, the others heard a loud call and commotion of noise.
The blue-clad man sprang into action, drawing out a vial of powder he'd been carrying. He ran to the crow abhuman and tossed the powder at it. The powder, unfortunately, fell short of his goal. As he drew close, a static noise filled his head, making it hard to focus.
The goat abhuman charged towards him, swinging its spear. However, this attack failed to make contact. It only served to distract him from the slice from the crow abhuman's blade, which struck across his chest. He could feel his blood beginning to flow from the wound.
The tentacle-faced man turned to one of the control panels and pressed a series of buttons. A shrill alarm sounded out throughout the facility, and red lights began to flash.
Scarlet responded quickly to the commotion, leaping up the ladder and quickly assessing the situation. She jumped towards the goat abhuman, striking it with both of her fists. There was a cracking sound as the second blow hit, and the goat fell to the ground. Katrin was right on Scarlet's heels, rushing past her once she ascended the ladder. She saw the tentacle-faced man and knew him for what he was: a mutant. A scourge. She swung both her blades at him, but he was slippery and managed to stay safe from them.
Looking down the cross hall, those on the lower floor saw more mutants-both the crow type and the goat type-coming towards them. Clio notched an arrow and fired at one of the goat abhumans. Her strike was true, and the arrow buried itself deep within the creature.
The well dressed woman moved to the center of the group and cleared her throat. Then, she began to speak. What she said wasn't important, but it filled her companions with a feeling of hope and motivation. They could win in this battle, despite the enemies large numbers. They felt it. Empowered by the woman's motivational speech, Jack focused his mind on one of the goat abhumans, and caused the nanotech in the air around it to strike against it. The nanotech obliged, and the abhuman yelped in pain.
Alal moved up behind Jack and pointed at the same abhuman. Shadows seemed to pour from his hand into the ground. Then, they came up out of the ground, surrounding and lashing at the abhuman. The creature made no more yelps of pain, but merely fell to the ground.
The blue-clad man swung his quarterstaff again at the crow abhuman, but with the fuzz that was filling his mind, he simply could not focus well enough to find his mark. The abhuman tried to strike back in response, but the blue-clad man stumbled out of the way of the strike. The mutant reached out its tentacle arm towards Katrin, but she ducked under the arm, avoiding the attack.
Down below, the abhuman forces surged towards the group in great numbers. A crow abhuman drew near to the well-dressed woman, who was still speaking inspirationally. She felt the static try to invade her mind, but she pushed it away. The abhuman tried to strike her, but missed. A goat abhuman tried to take advantage of her distraction, shoving its spear at her, but she dodged out of the way of this strike as well. The goat abhuman that Clio had struck with an arrow charged at its assailant, but Clio was too fast for the abhuman, maintaining her uninjured state.
Scarlet rushed towards the mutant, swinging her fists. He moved out of the way of her right arm just to be caught by her left hook. The momentum of the blow sent him staggering backwards, and Katrin took advantage of his unsteadiness to slice her blades through him. He dropped to the ground and his tentacle arm withered.
Almost immediately after the mutant fell, the abhumans assumed a less-hostile pose, trying only to push past the group below so that they could reach the exit. Realizing this, the group let those still alive pass by them, and let the abhumans leave.
Aftermath
"What is that?" Clio asked.
"Nothing," he answered, continuing to read the note.
"Can I see it?" she asked.
He ignored her.
She tried to grab the note from him, but he held it away.
"Where did Mizuki go?" he asked. "I've got some questions for her."
"I think she's down there," Clio said, nodding towards the window.
The small room had windows all around it, overlooking the larger more open room below. The room was filled with many ancient machines. There was no telling how many of them, if any, were functional. Across the room, there was a long table, which had some sort of decaying belt all across it. Many mechanical arms and devices seemed oriented towards this belt.
Mizuki and Alal were walking along and seeming to examine the varying machines and devices.
Eventually, they came to a machine near the end of the belt table. The front of the machine bore glass panels, behind which were two square packages, each about a foot and a half on each side.
"These are what I'm looking for," Mizuki said as she began to work the controls of the machine. "These are flatpacks."
The glass panels opened, and Mizuki reached in, taking the flatpacks and putting them into her bag.
The blue-clad man approached Mizuki and Alal, followed by the other members of the group.
"Mizuki, do you know anything about something called the Prinapoleia?" he asked her.
"Sure, the Prinapoleia is a building in Furatarntia," she answered. "It's an ancient building that was there before we built the town."
"What's it for?" the blue-clad man asked.
"For? It's not really for anything," Mizuki answered with a shrug. "Lorinda lives and works there."
"Who's Lorinda?" the blue-clad man asked.
"The local Aeon Priest," Mizuki said.
"Hmm..." Alal said.
"What is it?" Katrin asked.
"If there's an aeon priest in town, we should probably talk to them," Alal explained. "But we should be cautious, I'm not sure I trust them."
Jack threw his hands into the air.
"What is it?" the well-dressed woman asked.
"Well, he's talking about not trusting Aeon Priests, and I'm wearing this, so I don't know where that puts things," Jack said.
"We've been told the Aeon Priests built the Toybox," Alal explained. "The toybox seems to be the root of our memory loss and other troubles. If they had something to do with that, then there is reason to distrust them. As for you, if the Toybox was an experiment they were conducting, it would make sense that they would have one of their own among us. However, you presently seem to be suffering the same predicament as the rest of us and therefore have objectives in line with our own. That is, at least until we can recover our memories."
"Do you know anything about a group called the League of Chimera?" the blue-clad man pressed on in questioning Mizuki.
"I think they're mutants that don't like non-mutants?" Mizuki said, her inflection indicating her uncertainty. "Why?"
"I found this note on the mutant," the blue-clad man said, unfolding it. He read the note aloud:
"Drust,
"We are pleased with the report of your progress with the abhumans. It was a dangerous move to remove their old leader and take his place, but it appears to have worked well for you. There were those within our league who lacked faith in your efforts, and so contingencies were made within the plan in case you failed. I am glad that these will not be necessary. The abhumans will be of great use to our cause.
"Those of us who are more able to pass among the unevolved have infiltrated Furatarntia, and the plan advances. The Prinapoleia will belong to the League of Chimera.
"-Maylis"
The members of the Toybox crew looked to Mizuki, waiting for her response. She shrugged, seeming unphased by the news that a group of mutants was infiltrating her town for apparently nefarious purposes.
The Consequences of Separation
"So, I don't know if you guys were planning on going back to town with me or not, but I figured that if you are, I should tell you something," Mizuki said."Okay," Alal nodded, waiting for Mizuki to go on.
"The way I came to get here, past the Needles, and all that, isn't the fastest way or the most direct way to the city. You see, the city is almost straight north of us, but I went pretty far to the west to go around to get here. You see, in between the town and us there is an area of blighted land where nothing grows. Nothing lives there except for a huge and terrible monster that attacks anyone who comes near. The people from my town generally avoid the area, but since it seems that you can fight, I didn't know if you might want to take that path."
"I think we should go around," Scarlet said.
"I agree," Jack responded.
"Me too," Alal offered.
"I think we should go through," the blue-clad man said. "I want to see this monster."
"There's no reason for us to do that," Scarlet protested. "Let's just go around."
"No," the blue-clad man insisted. "I'm going to go north to see the monster. I'm not saying that any of you have to come with me, but I am going."
Katrin watched as her companions debated. It seemed that the blue-clad man was the only one who wanted to depart and go the other way, but he was also the most determined in his opinion. He started back towards the door, and she knew that she had to act fast. Compelled to try to keep the members of the group together, Katrin drew out a knife and moved to strike the blue-clad man on the head with it.
Before she could reach him, he was made aware of her intent. He drew out a small cobbled nanotech device and activated it, suddenly becoming invisible. His footsteps were heard as he ran towards the door. Katrin saw the double doors slide closed behind him, and she ran to them, trying to get them open.
She heard a mechanical noise from behind the door while she tried to get the controls working. It was a few minutes later when the door finally opened, and the small square room was empty. He had already gotten too far away.
The remainder of the group discussed what they wanted to do. Scarlet said that she would go with Mizuki and go the longer, safer way around. Katrin agreed with this plan. The well-dressed woman also decided to go with Scarlet, Katrin, and Mizuki. Jack stated that his intention was to try to travel to catch up with the blue-clad man, and hopefully make sure that he stayed safe against the monster. Clio decided to go with Jack. Alal was torn, but, in the end, he chose to go with Scarlet, Katrin, Mizuki, and the well dressed woman.
The journey was walked in relative silence as the crew seemed to be focusing on their own individual thoughts. After a couple hours of walking, as evening was beginning to set, Scarlet felt her bag begin to grow and get heavy once again. She reached inside and drew out the Toybox, tossing it away from her as it grew to being a nine foot cube once more.
Red energy pulsed around the box, and then poured from the box into the ground.
Far away, Jack, Clio, and the blue-clad man each were bathed in strange red energy. They felt it tearing at their minds, and then unconsciousness seized them.
Episode Summary
- The team battles a group of abhumans, apparently led by a mutant.
- After the mutant's death, the abhumans fled.
- A note was found on the body of the mutant, speaking of a plan by a group known as the League of Chimera to seize a building in Furatarntia known as the Prinapoleia.
- Mizuki found two flatpacks in the remains of the ruins
- After a dispute about which way for the group to travel, the unnamed blue-clad man fled to the north on his own. Jack and Clio went after him while the others traveled with Mizuki.
- The blue-clad man, Jack, and Clio were mentally struck by a red energy force and knocked unconscious.
If you want to start the story from the beginning, check out the first episode.
To continue the story, go to the next episode: Episode 104: "Because the World's Going to End. Clever."
If you want to see what happened immediately previously, check out the previous episode.
For more information on the Toybox Campaign, check out the Toybox Homepage.
To continue the story, go to the next episode: Episode 104: "Because the World's Going to End. Clever."
If you want to see what happened immediately previously, check out the previous episode.
For more information on the Toybox Campaign, check out the Toybox Homepage.
Numenera, The Strange, the Cypher System, and their respective logos are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Monte Cook Games characters and character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC. Content derived from Monte Cook Games publications is © 2013-2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
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