Link to part 1.
It was late when the skiff approached the Drugtown docks and there weren't many people around. There was a sign advising visitors not to leave the area without making arrangements with the dock master, so they went looking for him. They found him in his office, high as balls and dead to the world. One of the characters had an ability that allowed him to remove stress from another character, and we agreed that it could be used in this case to bring him down from his high and make him responsive. The character did, and the master woke up, angry at the world because of his dissipated buzz and ready for an argument.
He told them he couldn't give them a permit without sampling their cargo for contraband. "Contraband? What's contraband in a town that manufactures drugs?" "Trouble-maker, huh? I'll keep an eye on you." They briefly considered giving him the contaminated chocolate as a sample, but decided against. He sampled an entire bar, then asked for more samples, to be checked over at a later time. Instead, they showed him their dead bandit leader. That changed his tone a little, and he agreed to let them proceed into town.
Sherlock made a roll to figure out where in town they were likely to get the best bounty for a dead bandit. His roll was at +3 for Mental stat, +2 for an ability and +1 for the hometown advantage. It was a good result, he remembered the details of the different gangs running the town from his childhood there, including one who particularly hated raiders. He went by the name Dr Feelgood and his headquarters was up on the hill.
They headed up that way and managed to get in to see Dr Feelgood's secretary, who went by the name Butthead. He was a big guy in leather and a mohawk, so it wasn't immediately obvious what qualified him to be a secretary. Maybe he was the only one in the gang who didn't eat the pencils. Butthead told them the doctor wasn't seeing anyone today, and the smartest thing to do was leave the bandit with him and come back for their reward later. The party immediately pegged that he was trying to cheat them out of the reward. Yu Tuu tried to intimidate Butthead by opening his coat to show a brace of grenades underneath, but failed the roll. The room was lined with ratty curtains and they immediately heard the click of a gun being cocked from behind one of them. Sherlock talked to Butthead like a fellow Drugtown boy to tell him it was all just a stupid joke and the tension eased. He negotiated a deal by which the party got to see Dr Feelgood immediately and Butthead got 10% of the bounty.
The doctor was brusque with them at first, but once again Sherlock used his hometown advantage to turn the interview into a performance, making him laugh with the story of the first bandit's failed attempt to climb their railing before getting smacked off his bike, and the sideswipe that killed the leader. Some good rolling increased the bounty by 50%. The reward turned out to be four bullets suitable for Sherlock's gun, some ancient army field rations (still in original foil packaging) and a set of matched Garfield-print coffee mugs. They left the body with the doctor and left, paying off Butthead as they went. He was happy to have something from ancient times to trade at the big market two days from now.
The party went back to the skiff to sleep. Before turning in, Idonou fired up his ancestral heirloom laptop and created a spreadsheet to figure out profit percentages, putting together a plan to maximise their return at the market. The crew went to sleep in the cargo hold, leaving Nameless on watch with a pair of night vision binoculars borrowed from Sherlock. That was a good plan because near the end of his watch he spotted a couple of figures in black sneaking up to the boat. He yelled for the others, waking them immediately, but also alerting the two skulkers. They rushed him, pulling knives as they came. He knocked one off the ramp with his pole, but the other reached him and dealt a minor wound with his knife. After that, the others were on deck and Sherlock won initiative. He made a difficult called shot and killed the raider with a single bullet in the forehead. Nameless jumped down to the sand to threaten the second one with his pole. That one considered the odds and surrendered, dropping his knife. They tied him up.
Yu Tuu did a good job of intimidating him by pretending to pull a grenade's pin and dropping it in his lap. He swore that they weren't working for anyone, a guy in the bar sold them the information that there was a skiff in dock with a valuable cargo and they just meant to steal. Nothing more complicated than that. It seemed like the truth, so Valium untied him and told him that since he wanted the chocolate so bad, he could have it. He brought up the box of contaminated bars and informed the bandit it would cost him all the barter he had. He went pale but reluctantly agreed to return home and fetch it all. Yu Tuu and Idonou went with him to keep him honest.
It turned out that 'home' was a grotty flophouse where the town's poorest citizens sleep. The bandit admitted that he didn't have any barter -- but he'd talk to his friends and they'd be sure to loan him some. Yu Tuu and Idonou got his mark on an IOU, which meant that if they didn't see him again, they could sell the debt to one of the town's slavers. They made sure he took the chocolate with him.
They returned to the skiff and all was quiet again until the third shift, when a rumble of approaching hoverbikes woke them all. It was the three remaining bandits from earlier, coming at them from the desert side. They didn't bother with stealth, they darted closer and threw molotovs, occupying the crew with putting out the flames. They drove erratic circles around the skiff, ducking and weaving to make themselves harder targets for Sherlock's pistol. Nameless smacked one off his bike with a pole. Yu Tuu tossed a grenade and managed to take out the remaining two in a single explosion. Idonou chased the downed bandit down to the sand, only to find he was wriggling underneath the skiff. He called the information up to the deck and Valium took the skiff's controls, cutting the antigrav. It settled to the ground, squishing the bandit under its prow.
The crew buried all the body parts they could find in shallow graves under the dock and claimed their hoverbikes. One was in good shape, and the other two were repairable. The session ended there, but the characters made a good profit off their chocolate and salvage at the Drugtown market and finished their trade run covered in glory.
He told them he couldn't give them a permit without sampling their cargo for contraband. "Contraband? What's contraband in a town that manufactures drugs?" "Trouble-maker, huh? I'll keep an eye on you." They briefly considered giving him the contaminated chocolate as a sample, but decided against. He sampled an entire bar, then asked for more samples, to be checked over at a later time. Instead, they showed him their dead bandit leader. That changed his tone a little, and he agreed to let them proceed into town.
Sherlock made a roll to figure out where in town they were likely to get the best bounty for a dead bandit. His roll was at +3 for Mental stat, +2 for an ability and +1 for the hometown advantage. It was a good result, he remembered the details of the different gangs running the town from his childhood there, including one who particularly hated raiders. He went by the name Dr Feelgood and his headquarters was up on the hill.
They headed up that way and managed to get in to see Dr Feelgood's secretary, who went by the name Butthead. He was a big guy in leather and a mohawk, so it wasn't immediately obvious what qualified him to be a secretary. Maybe he was the only one in the gang who didn't eat the pencils. Butthead told them the doctor wasn't seeing anyone today, and the smartest thing to do was leave the bandit with him and come back for their reward later. The party immediately pegged that he was trying to cheat them out of the reward. Yu Tuu tried to intimidate Butthead by opening his coat to show a brace of grenades underneath, but failed the roll. The room was lined with ratty curtains and they immediately heard the click of a gun being cocked from behind one of them. Sherlock talked to Butthead like a fellow Drugtown boy to tell him it was all just a stupid joke and the tension eased. He negotiated a deal by which the party got to see Dr Feelgood immediately and Butthead got 10% of the bounty.
The doctor was brusque with them at first, but once again Sherlock used his hometown advantage to turn the interview into a performance, making him laugh with the story of the first bandit's failed attempt to climb their railing before getting smacked off his bike, and the sideswipe that killed the leader. Some good rolling increased the bounty by 50%. The reward turned out to be four bullets suitable for Sherlock's gun, some ancient army field rations (still in original foil packaging) and a set of matched Garfield-print coffee mugs. They left the body with the doctor and left, paying off Butthead as they went. He was happy to have something from ancient times to trade at the big market two days from now.
The party went back to the skiff to sleep. Before turning in, Idonou fired up his ancestral heirloom laptop and created a spreadsheet to figure out profit percentages, putting together a plan to maximise their return at the market. The crew went to sleep in the cargo hold, leaving Nameless on watch with a pair of night vision binoculars borrowed from Sherlock. That was a good plan because near the end of his watch he spotted a couple of figures in black sneaking up to the boat. He yelled for the others, waking them immediately, but also alerting the two skulkers. They rushed him, pulling knives as they came. He knocked one off the ramp with his pole, but the other reached him and dealt a minor wound with his knife. After that, the others were on deck and Sherlock won initiative. He made a difficult called shot and killed the raider with a single bullet in the forehead. Nameless jumped down to the sand to threaten the second one with his pole. That one considered the odds and surrendered, dropping his knife. They tied him up.
Yu Tuu did a good job of intimidating him by pretending to pull a grenade's pin and dropping it in his lap. He swore that they weren't working for anyone, a guy in the bar sold them the information that there was a skiff in dock with a valuable cargo and they just meant to steal. Nothing more complicated than that. It seemed like the truth, so Valium untied him and told him that since he wanted the chocolate so bad, he could have it. He brought up the box of contaminated bars and informed the bandit it would cost him all the barter he had. He went pale but reluctantly agreed to return home and fetch it all. Yu Tuu and Idonou went with him to keep him honest.
It turned out that 'home' was a grotty flophouse where the town's poorest citizens sleep. The bandit admitted that he didn't have any barter -- but he'd talk to his friends and they'd be sure to loan him some. Yu Tuu and Idonou got his mark on an IOU, which meant that if they didn't see him again, they could sell the debt to one of the town's slavers. They made sure he took the chocolate with him.
They returned to the skiff and all was quiet again until the third shift, when a rumble of approaching hoverbikes woke them all. It was the three remaining bandits from earlier, coming at them from the desert side. They didn't bother with stealth, they darted closer and threw molotovs, occupying the crew with putting out the flames. They drove erratic circles around the skiff, ducking and weaving to make themselves harder targets for Sherlock's pistol. Nameless smacked one off his bike with a pole. Yu Tuu tossed a grenade and managed to take out the remaining two in a single explosion. Idonou chased the downed bandit down to the sand, only to find he was wriggling underneath the skiff. He called the information up to the deck and Valium took the skiff's controls, cutting the antigrav. It settled to the ground, squishing the bandit under its prow.
The crew buried all the body parts they could find in shallow graves under the dock and claimed their hoverbikes. One was in good shape, and the other two were repairable. The session ended there, but the characters made a good profit off their chocolate and salvage at the Drugtown market and finished their trade run covered in glory.
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