Madcap Mercenaries Campaign

Outlaw Field: Underground, Entry Room

2012-03-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

The footsteps get closer and closer. Finally, you hear them just on the other side of the door. Everything on this side is completely silent, as everyone is tense with anticipation.

The door handle moves a bit, as someone on the other side touches it. You hear a faint beep, probably a key card of some sort being swiped, and then a loud click as the door is unlocked.

Moments pass and the door remains closed. Then you hear footsteps again, slower and more deliberate this time, growing fainter as someone on the other side moves away from the now unlocked door.

Outlaw Field: Trap Door

2012-03-02T01:10:00.000-05:00

The rat accepts your help and finally comes out into full view. Still, he takes his time to size you up before he moves too far from the cover of the desks that he could leap behind if necessary. He's wearing little more than a pair of pants and an empty pistol holster on one hip. He stares at each of you intently, one at a time. Finally satisfied that he isn't in any immediate danger, he says, "Yes! Come. Follow me to the hole."

The rat leads you to a closed doorway in the very hallway you scrambled down in order to avoid his fiery attack. The scorched mark on the floor is still there, and you can't help but think about the near miss when you pass it.

The rat crouches as he pushes the door open, as if trying to be as stealthy as possible. He points across the room at a trap door leading down. The trap door is on the ground off to the side, and a narrow staircase leads down into darkness. "Over there," he whispers. "Door with lock is down there, down long hallway. They lock door and won't let me in!"

"Well, guys," Myra says. "Looks like this is it." She glances down at her pistol to make sure that the safety is off, and then she takes a deep breath. "We ready?"

Outlaw Field: Fire!

2012-02-23T22:56:00.003-05:00

Behind you, you hear Myra scream, "Run!"

Just as Frederick shouts out his warning, Kendrick sees a rat-like humanoid stand up from behind a desk and turn toward the door. It lets out a primal scream as it turns, and a pillar of fire appears out of nowhere, completely blocking the doorway. Luckily, both Kendrick and Frederick are able to back up in time for the pillar of fire to cause anything more than discomfort.

The pillar of flame continues to blaze just inside the hallway, concealing the door and the room beyond from your view. As the heat in the hall grows, you hear a voice from the other side of the flames shout out, "Just leave me alone!"

Meanwhile, Myra stops running at the end of the hallway and turns back to face the flames. "I can sense him now," she says as she approaches again. "Powerful psychic... I know some can mask their power. He was trying to hide."

OOC: Matt... No, Kendrick couldn't see what Frederick was seeing. I guess I could have sent him an email detailing the psychic stuff that only he can see/feel/whatever, but I don't plan on doing that unless it benefits the story. Quim, if there is ever a time that you want to keep something like that a secret, just let me know.

Outlaw Field: Welcome Center

2012-02-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

Image included as a reference point for what the building
looked like hundreds of years ago. Now this structure is
just slightly protruding from the tree line of a light forest.

You approach the abandoned building with caution. The structure itself looks stable, although the years have definitely taken their toll on the building. What was once glass in the front of the building has long since been shattered and replaced by a makeshift wall of wood and other materials nailed together. The front doors have been taken down altogether recently, and they are resting against the rest of the outside wall to the left of the opening where they once were.

There is a slight buzzing sound coming from a power generator that you can see to the side of the building. The unit has a large Madcap Mercenaries stamp on the side, and thick cords run from the generator through the front door and to some kind of light source.

It is easy to see inside, as the lighting that the excavation group set up is apparently still on. The front room is mostly empty, except for trash and the smells that accompany it. You can see where the workers cleared paths through rubble and trash, which probably accumulated over the years from various squatters using this place as a temporary residence. There are two doors in the front room, and each has a rubble-free path leading to it from the entrance. One door is barely on its hinges, and looks like it leads to what might once have been a waiting area, a large room with lots of old metal and plastic chairs. The other door is closed, and although the door itself has obviously been replaced recently, there is an ancient sign above it on which you can barely make out the words, "Employees Only."

Myra closes her eyes to concentrate again for a moment. "We're closer now... that's all I can make out. We're not alone."

Outlaw Field: Arrival

2012-01-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

The workers shove three small crates of supplies onto the chopper, and you're off. You get a chance during the flight to check the crates. One is filled with various medical supplies, and another contains a day's worth of field rations for four people. The last contains extra e-clips and a matching set of four walkie-talkies. The flight from Merc Town to Outlaw Field takes less than an hour, and although you spot a pair of winged draconic creatures during your flight, they ignore you and don't even change their course to investigate.

For imagery only... much has
changed since this pre-cataclysm
photo was taken... see text.

You make a quick pass over the old airport, and everything looks still. There aren't any signs of movement below. Over the years, it looks like the forest has reclaimed much of the west side of the airport, and the buildings that once stood apart from the trees now stand just inside the tree line. It is clear that Madcap employees have chopped down and removed some of the trees for better access. To the east, there are more forests off in the distance, but plenty of open fields in between with not much more than very high grass. Breaking the monotony, to the east there is also a building that looks to have been built on the foundation of the large home on the map Prestin showed you.

Your landing is smooth, and Valen begins powering down the chinook. As the chopper blades slow and the noise of the machine subsides, you find yourself in the open field to the east of the main buildings. The grass is about waist high here, but closer to the buildings it has been cleared or trampled to a much more manageable height. One of the smaller hangars has been completely demolished, but the rest are standing, even if they are in serious disrepair. The main building to the south is overgrown, surrounded by trees and covered in moss.

The remains of what looks to have been a camp are strewn about in the elbow of the "L" of the hangars, and there are a few vehicles parked nearby.

All is silent except for the grass rustling in the breeze.

What do you do?

OOC Notes: Unless Eric responds, I'm going to assume that Valen stays back to guard the chopper. Also, if you want to back up and interact with the draconic creatures, that's fine as well... just let me know.

Meeting Myra

2011-12-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

As you approach the chinook, you take note of two people standing nearby, chatting. The man you recognize as Jacob, the repairman who accompanied you into Merc Town earlier. The woman is short and stout, with pale skin, black hair, and black lipstick. She's wearing a set of huntsman armor dyed black as well, but despite her somber appearance, she also wears a wide grin.

Apparently, Jacob just told her the story about the blue-skinned D-bee who was so angry that he hit himself with the door on his way out of Fixer's place. "Hi guys!" Jacob says as you approach. "I just finished looking over this fine machine. All systems checked out just fine. This is Myra, by the way. I hear she's going too?"

"A pleasure," Myra says. She looks each of you over, and it feels as if she's looking right through you, as if she can see your soul itself. It's an awkward feeling, but not uncomfortable... although you can tell that it would be quite uneasy for someone who might be hiding something.

Prestin's Mission Briefing, Part II

2011-12-20T17:45:00.000-05:00

OOC: I intend to do more commenting than actual posting, but I don't think there's a way to include images in a comment.

"Ammo and meds? Done and done," Prestin says. "We'll save mortuary equipment for a future operation. Let's focus on survivors first."

"Feel free to take a look at these maps. They're old aerial views of the compound, but they're still useful. The buildings are in the same places even if they aren't in the same condition. Just after the cataclysm, Fort Campbell was overrun by creatures from the rifts. However, many survivors from Fort Campbell fled to this airport and were able to survive there for a time. Although much of what was at Fort Campbell has been either destroyed or looted over the years, Outlaw Field was left relatively untouched. We've been bringing in parts from pre-rifts airplanes and vehicles, both military and civilian, to sell to Golden Age Weaponsmiths. The profits were great at first, but we've obviously run into trouble."

"The reports were all transmissions between our communications team here and the excavation team at Outlaw Field. Paper records may have been kept on site, but we have none for you to actually read. I can tell you what was reported to me, though, and it's pretty standard fare: objects moving on their own, whispers that sound human but the actual words can't be discerned, footsteps nobody can account for, and the occasional shadowy figure that disappears when you try to chase it. I investigated these claims myself and couldn't find any evidence of the supernatural, but I can't just dismiss it if my whole team has gone missing."

Prestin's Mission Briefing

2011-12-13T19:41:00.000-05:00

OOC: This is where we last left off, guys. If you want a much more in-depth review of the game, check out the pdf files on the Beginnings page. Character sheets are on the Character Sheets page (obviously), and I finally got the links from Google Docs to work. I wanted to repost this as a way to get us back in the swing of things. Welcome back, everybody!

"Until last week, we were running a mining expedition in a place known as Outlaw Field. Not ore, mind you… but it was a veritable gold mine of pre-rifts artifacts. According to my research, it was spared much of the devastation of the rifts and was used as a base of operations by Fort Campbell survivors for some time before they were overrun.

We had a team onsite excavating the ruins for about a month. From the beginning, there were reports of ghosts, but I investigated the site myself and could find no evidence to support the claims. Nevertheless, the reports continued and we increased security as much as we could within our profit margins. Twelve days ago, one of the workers went missing. Another disappeared the next day, and another the next. One week ago, we decided to abandon the site until we could further assess the dangers. However, none of the workers or guards made it back to Merctown. That’s why we hired you.

None of our current employees are willing to go to the site, so we brought you in. You’ll be traveling with a psychic investigator named Myra. Perhaps she will be more successful in finding evidence of these ghosts that supposedly haunt the place. Your team will have three objectives:

Investigate the ghost claims. See if you can find any evidence of supernatural activity. Putting an end to it would be very beneficial to Madcap Enterprises, but the primary objective is information gathering.
Track down the missing workers and evacuate them safely if they are still alive.
Salvage as much of our investment as possible. Once you’ve found as many survivors as you can, fill as much as you can of the remaining space in the transport with equipment and gear from the operation.

You’ll have access to a Chinook for the mission, and we’ll do our best to supply you with any other equipment you may need. Just ask and we’ll see what we can do. Any questions?"

More Testing

2011-12-13T19:34:00.000-05:00

Trying out a couple of features real quick... making sure that everyone is getting notification emails whenever things are posted. I'm adding this post, and then I'm going to comment on it. If this works, everyone should get a notification email for both the post and the comment. Let me know if you do...

I'm using the email addresses that I have for each of you. If you're using different ones now, let me know and I'll make the switch.

Testing

2011-12-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

This is just a test to see how well this works...

See if you can comment on this post, guys...