Session 217 - A Big Beginning for the Bunker Buddies

The beginning of a new era!

Despite my initial assumption that this would be a hardscrabble few sessions where everyone would have to scrounge and beg for basic supplies, a solid rumour roll and some haggling for loans from a demon led to the discovery of a massive prepper cache!

With their loans paid off already and a chunk of change in the party coffers, the new world of the post-apocalypse is waiting!

Session 217 - A Big Beginning for the Bunker Buddies

Date:
14 years after the End.

March.

Characters:
- Andromeda, Level 1 Laddite Cleric / Kitty
- Dustin Johnson, Level 1 Intergalacticist Cleric / Charles
- Red, Level 1 Fighter / Timothy
- Damnation Snels, Level 1 Laddite Cleric / George
- Sophia, Level 1 Brackenfrau Elf / Carter

New Character Origins:

- Andromeda: One of the many para-timeline Andromedae who worshipped Ereshkigal before the End-War. After the Apocalypse Dragon’s death by moonshot she now worships the one who killed it - POWERLAD. She survived as a man-farmer outside the Storm-Shell for a decade, now she’s come to New Moondin to visit the dragonbones of her lord and saviour.
- Dustin Johnson: Brother to Daniel Johnson, survived underground for decades after the artisanal mine he oversaw collapsed as a result of a certain glowing alien meteorite. Emerged decades later after the end of the world shook open an exit, wearing a necklace of the teeth of those he was forced to eat to survive. May or may not be aware that Galaxy Johnson and his hated brother Daniel Johnson were the same entity.
- Red: The soulless shell of Sir Robyn’s AMAB child. Murdered via time-travel to loophole an immortality ritual, then brought back by the Resurrection Engine in Fate. Since her soul wouldn’t exist for another 13 years in any timeline she grew up without one.
- Damnation Snels: An old man, father of Adam and Oliver Snels, who somehow survived outside the Shell as a corpse-collector. Last of the direct Snels family line. Worships POWERLAD because he saved so many within the Storm-Shell.

- Sophia: Yes, that Sophia. The creepy Elf kid from before the End who kept hinting that she was POWERLAD’s time-displaced daughter. Due to her Elven immortality she still looks eight years old, but she’s been through it all and knows pretty much everyone in town.

Valuables:
- Barrel of pre-apocalypse grain (5000 exp)
- 3 muskets (2400 exp)
- 20 iron rations (1000 exp)

- First aid kit (50 exp)
Total: 8450 exp

Overland Exploration:
- Explored 3 square miles (150 exp)
- Set 1 Forage (50 exp)
- Found 1 Shielded Campsite (100 exp)
Total: 300 exp

Events:
--- The Dawn of a New Age
- After thirteen long years of hardship, New Moondin has survived.
- The poison in the air has dissipated to a survivable level, allowing survivors to spend hours at a time in the open air.
- Even more incredibly, others have survived! The arrival of several people from beyond New Moondin - from beyond the Storm-Shell itself - brings the possibility that the world outside may be habitable.
- A feeling of hope grips New Moondin. A new age of re-exploration is upon them. An age of rebuilding and reclamation, of taking back what was saved. A new world built upon the fragments of the old, waiting for the brave to claim it. Go forth!

--- You All Meet at an Inn

- In a tavern, in a town, a group of adventurers is approached by a mysterious stranger.
- Our ragtag group of drinkers is made up of those rare and incredible few who entered New Moondin after the end of the Poisoned Years, brought together by a mutual sense of not-quite-belonging. Naturally, for these rare few who spent a decade in hardscrabble solitude, the main thing they did upon re-entering civilisation was become regulars at a pub.
- The mysterious stranger is eight years old. Her name is Sophia, and she proposes an expedition out into the lands within the Shell. Much of it remains unexplored. She even knows a guy who’ll front cash to equip such an expedition. Plus it’s Hazy out - relatively mild weather - perfect for travel.

- Agreeing for reasons potentially related to an outstanding bar tab, the novelty of being hired by a small child, or a sense of adventure, the group heads out to meet this kind benefactor.

--- The Rumour Mill
- On their way through the town, the party gossips. Dustin Johnson is particularly excited about a rumour he heard - that there’s a lone prepper in a bunker in the Fallow south of New Moondin. He’s bound to have all sorts of pre-apocalypse goods, and surely he’d be grateful for a rescue?
- Sophia grins to herself as she leads the way to the moneylender.

--- Payday Lending

- They reach a building emblazoned with the words “Honey Healing 4 U!”, and Sophia ushers them in.
- Inside, sitting on a small chair atop a long counter, is a green demon with a golden mask. It’s Julgoor! He’s become small and grumpy after the long years of collaboration and self-sacrifice in New Moondin - there’s little need for greed when you rely on each other to survive.
- Dustin approaches and asks if he can get a loan. They’re planning an expedition into the Fallow, and for that they need to buy wasteland protection.
- While he’s initially hostile to the idea, Julgoor quickly comes round when he realises the greed-generating potential of payday loans. They haggle for a long time - a loan now, in exchange for 20% of Dustin’s share of the expedition’s takings. They shake on it, and tattoos flow up Dustin's arm.

- While they haggle, Sophia quietly reveals to Red that she’s getting a finder’s fee from Julgoor. A 5% cut in exchange for bringing him easy marks. Let’s say they cut out the middle man - Sophia’s got a bit of cash herself. She’d be willing to front the money - special offer - for a mere 10% of Red’s share.
- Andromeda ignores the two bartering in the corner and gets a smaller loan from Julgoor - bargaining a couple of doses of Notcoke out of Julgoor for her trouble.
- They all leave, relatively satisfied, and gear up! Devoid of conscience, Red artlessly lets slip that Sophia fronted her a bunch of money for a competitive rate. Dustin is aghast and tells everyone who’ll listen not to trust Sophia the evil demon child.

--- Expedition Day 1: Into the Wastes!

- They head out into the hills south-east of New Moondin, into the region known as the Fallow. It is a dead land - the area wiped out by Ninhursag’s breath in the End War to protect New Moondin from a tide of grubs.
- Damnation Snels, devoid of protective gear since he refused to take out a loan, feels his lungs start to liquefy as they enter the Fallow. He turns back, chastened, and rests up in town.
- The rest of the group explore as they move through the hills, leaving a trail of teeth (courtesy of Dustin’s necklace) as they go.

- Andromeda is the first to spot an astonishing find - some rare surviving plants! In a lee that would have been protected from Ninhursag’s breath, she finds a stash of Longcap Mushrooms. These long enoki-like mushrooms are good eating.

- They continue as the sun continues to rise overhead, making their way south. At around noon they begin to hear a rhythmic ga-chunk-chunk noise. They follow the noise until the come to the top of a steep bluff. Below, slamming its head into the cliffside, is an absolutely enormous grub. How did it survive?!

- They name it “The Bus” for its size and consider trying to murder it from above. There’s a lot of meat on that thing.
- From the vantage of the bluff there’s another realisation - the prepper bunker is less than a mile away, lower down in a wide valley!

- Grumbling, Red knocks the branches off a nearby tree to mark where they saw The Bus, and the group head along the bluff for a while until they find a gradual slope down into the valley.
- A strange thing happens as they approach - scales seem to warp, everyone is slowly growing then slowly shrinking again. It doesn’t seem harmful, just strange.

--- Expedition Night 1: The Bunker

- The sun is low in the sky as they arrive at the bunker, close to the edge of the Storm-Shell. Squat stone pillboxes with defensible arrow-slits flank a large trapdoor that swings wide and open. A huge wind-chime clangs, suspended above the trapdoor. There is a cairn nearby, each stone inscribed with Bible verses.

- They climb down the ladder under the broken trapdoor, finding a skeleton at the bottom. It’s clear that this poor soul opened the trapdoor at some point and died from the Fallow’s fumes. Red makes jokes too soon.
- Inside they find an absolute trove! 100 iron rations, a first aid kit, muskets, bows, gunpowder, the works! Most incredibly they find a barrel of grain - a seed cache from the old world. Extremely valuable nowadays.
- They decide to stay the night here, since it’s a Shielded Campsite and will keep off the weather. Red finds the ladders into the pillboxes above and finds the arrow slits tightly shuttered. She upgrades them to swing on hinges, in case they’re ever needed.
- The others divide up the mushrooms for food and discuss what to do about the sheer abundance of treasure they’ve just found. Would Julgoor know if they left some stuff behind? Should they make sure nobody finds out about this place?
- It’s decided to take a stack of Iron Rations each, a musket for those who want one, the first aid kit for Andromeda, and the barrel of grain.
- Considering the success of their team so far, they decide to name their group. After a short deliberation it is decided - The Bunker Buddies!

--- Expedition Day 2: The Return

- They awaken to a light rain, with heavier rain on the way. Loaded up with valuable food and carrying the grain barrel, they follow the trail they left back towards New Moondin.
- On the way they travel past some white flat stones that weren’t there on the way out. A cursory inspection reveals a segmented leg tucking itself under one of the stones. Not wanting to risk their loot, the party heads swiftly on.

--- Expedition End: Cash Money!
- Finally, after hours of travel, they see New Moondin ahead! They roll in through the sheeting rain, bringing their winnings to the incredibly impressed Julgoor! He’s a bit bigger now, maybe the size of a child, and his mask is a little shinier.
- He takes his cut and pays out the rest - shaking the party’s hands one by one and sending Debt tattoos flowing down their skin. Red pushes hers around her skin, hiding them under her slave collar. Andromeda forms them into angular letters - “I AM LOADED”.
- A great success!

Total: 1900 exp

Team Bonus:
- Classic Charles bonus
- Fame bonus
- Holy bonus
Total: 150 exp

Individual Bonus:
- Chronicler (Carter / Sophia - 100 exp)
- Expedition Leader (George / Damnation - 100 exp)
- Cartographer (Carter / Sophia - 100 exp)
- Paymaster (Charles / Dustin - 100 exp)
- Vanguard (Kitty / Andromeda - 100 exp)
- Art Attack bonus (Carter, Charles, Timothy - 100 exp ea.)
- Artapalooza bonus (Carter, Charles - 100 exp)
- Attacco d’Arte bonus (Carter - 100 exp)
- JÜGBRINGYR bonus (Charles*2, Kitty - 500 exp ea.)

Experience Totals:
- Charles / Dustin Johnson, Level 2 Intergalacticist Cleric: 3460 (Level up at 3500)
Level up: +1d6 HP! +1d6 Healing Pool! +1 Starting Faith! +Backstory! - Kitty / Andromeda, Level 2 Laddite Cleric: 2760 (Level up at 3500)
Level up: +1d6 HP! +1d6 Healing Pool! +1 Starting Faith! +Backstory! - Carter / Sophia, Level 2 Brackenfrau Elf: 2660 (Level up at 4500) Level up: +1d6 HP! +1 Mana! +1 Free Spell! +Backstory! - George / Damnationl Snels, Level 2 Laddite Cleric: 2260 (Level up at 3500)
Level up: +1d6 HP! +1d6 Healing Pool! +1 Starting Faith! +Backstory!
- Timothy / Red, Level 2 Fighter: 2260 (Level up at 4000)
Level up: +1d8 HP! +1 to Hit! +1 to Crit/Fumble Table! +Backstory!