Early April 1998 Responses

From:  John Groszkiewicz (Tork)

SPOLILER SPACE !!!!!!!!!!!

If you have not read this months installment there DO NOT PROCEED - read the situation 
then come back.
























You were warned:

>Tork is silent for a while as he considers this explanation. 
>
>"Okay, so if you're not Dakka Syte, who the hell are you?" 
>
>There is a long pause before the Human answers. 
>
>"My name is Selson Streel." 

Why does Tork's stomach suddenly knot up with the thought that 'our employer' is the 
"Lord of Shadows"?

TTFN
John johngroz@velocity.net
----------
"Can't say. Saying would be knowing. Don't know. So, can't say." - Zathrus


From:  John Whitfield (T'Klkk)

>
>
>"Okay, so if you're not Dakka Syte, who the hell are you?"
>
>There is a long pause before the Human answers.
>
>"My name is Selson Streel."

T'Klkk has 2 words: "Oh shit!"

-JWW

From:  Clark Valentine (Taanik)

Taanik says, in an exaggerated Foghorn Leghorn-type southern accent, "We, I say we have been flim-flammed."

From:  Andy Campbell (Urugg)

Alright, folks - now the gloves are off. Should we manage to acquire "Mr.
Streel", I vote that he get the "Dr. Jest" treatment (any other Elric /
Stormbringer fans among us?). Grrr.

The sad part is, its so clear in hindsight. Think about it - how many
corporate CEO's are big enough computer geniuses to tap into the colony rail
net, cargo bot control net and personal quarters codes from their chronocom
or
portacomp?

There will come a reckoning >:-I

From:  Ruben Rivera (Kare)

Hey Layne,


YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,



This is FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having the time of my life,
Ruben

From:  Ruben Rivera (Kare)

Hey Layne, please post...


Kare's mind races....."If your...then Dakka is....". Her head tosses
back, "WE JUST GOT F*CKED HARD!"

Okay how long has Dakka (or his imposter) been in Jail? According to
info provided, Lost Point has been "abandoned" for over three and more
then likely 5 years. I just to make sure were dealing with only one
monster.

So Hey can't blob boy...girl...it grow another arm and untie itself. Or
make one of its arms disappear?

Hey Taanik, you've "flim-flammed, bambussled, hood winked...sorry I just
had a Malcolm X flashback".

If not Tork is going to have to Naw his arm off.

Once we escape, we are going to have to MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE!
First person to get Kare's foot in their a** will be the real Dakka. 
Then the metal boys (no one ties up Kare, shes not getting much respect
these days). 

More to come
Kare

From:  John Groszkiewicz (Tork)

Hello Layne,

Its been 24 hours and I'm still fuming about the party's recent turn of
events.
Congradulations on another excellent addition to an excellent game.

Just a couple questions on our character's current situation.
About our captors:

>The voices fade and there is silence.

Am I correct in assuming that this means they kept on walking or was did the
voices
'drop off' because they had nothing else to say?

> But despite the bruises and the swelling, it is still easy to recognize
> this man as the man the team had chased all the way to Lost Point.
>
> Kare is the first to speak. "Well, Dakka Syte. Surprise, surprise. It
> looks like the metallic goons left just enough of you for us to beat
> senseless. . .as soon as I can get free from these ropes."

Is our cell-mate also tied up or is he free?

Okay and here is one for the team...

> The team's weapons and equipment--with the exception of spacesuits,
> defensive suits, chronocoms and toxy-rad gauges--are removed and piled
> with heaps of junk against the east wall of the storage pod.

Okay... WHY let us keep our Chronocoms?!? I always viewed chronocoms being
worn on the
wrist. It should not be too hard to free our hands enough to open a channel
to get
help.

Tork's paraniod thought: The Lord of the Shadows wanted us to keep our
chronocoms
because (1) he would be able to track us and (2) believes our new cell-mate
dead. Thus
his impersonation of Selson is intact and IF we manage a call for help he
expects to be
the one on the other end of the line.

TTFN
John G. johngroz@velocity.net

From:  John Groszkiewicz (Tork)

Kveldulf wrote:
>
> Alright, folks - now the gloves are off. Should we manage to acquire "Mr.
> Streel", I vote that he get the "Dr. Jest" treatment (any other Elric /
> Stormbringer fans among us?). Grrr.
>
> The sad part is, its so clear in hindsight. Think about it - how many
> corporate CEO's are big enough computer geniuses to tap into the colony
rail
> net, cargo bot control net and personal quarters codes from their
chronocom or
> portacomp?

Well team-mates it looks like we stepped into the middle of "The Net". Wish
I would
have watched that movie.


TTFN
John johngroz@velocity.net
----------
"Can't say. Saying would be knowing. Don't know. So, can't say." - Zathrus

From:  Layne Saltern (GM)

>>The voices fade and there is silence.
>
>Am I correct in assuming that this means they kept on
>walking or was did the voices 'drop off' because they
>had nothing else to say?

The voices faded as if the armored men were walking further and further
away.


>Is our cell-mate also tied up or is he free?

Your cell-mate is tied up the same way you are.


>>The team's weapons and equipment--with the exception of spacesuits,
>>defensive suits, chronocoms and toxy-rad gauges--are removed and piled
>>with heaps of junk against the east wall of the storage pod.
>
>Okay... WHY let us keep our Chronocoms?!?
>I always viewed chronocoms being worn on the
>wrist. It should not be too hard to free our hands
>enough to open a channel to get help.

Your chronocoms are indeed worn externally on your wrists and could easily
have been removed. But the fact remains that they were NOT removed.

From:  Andy Campbell (Urugg)

Now that we've had a chance to vent our frustration and feelings of betrayal,
we can turn our attention to the good news (yes, there is some). We now know
soem important stuff, folks, that'll hopefully get us out of our current
predicament (for some reason, I have this image of old Flash Gordon serials
from the 30's, with Flash & the crew at the mercy of Ming of the Bad Goatee -
now where are the Hawkmen when we need them?). Anyway, the good news (in no
particular order):

1) Our captors may have the fancy suits, but fact is they're a bunch of
untrained yahoos (though still dangerous). Though there are nine of them,
they are apparently a bunch of colonist types outfitted with the suits by our
employer (remember that the sabotage attacks were repeatedly described as
"unskilled", "amateur" etc.). Besides raw combat ability, we probably have
the advantage as far as overall tactical thinking and planning as well (Tork
and T'Klkk). Also, at least one of the inviso-boys is young and appears
somewhat sympathetic to us - maybe we can turn him to the Light Side ; )

2) We know pretty much for certain who our new target is - that being the
real Mr. Syte, and where he is (though in the endgame that holo system may be
our undoing). Now that Syte has dropped the facade of being Streel, we don't
have to wonder if we're dupes anymore - now at least we *know* we're dupes and
can act on it.

3) The colonists are in obviously awful condition and they must be aware of
it. Given that, we may be able to convince them that if Syte / the LoS really
gave a rat's ass about their welfare, he'd be diverting food shipments and
medicines to them instead of handing them some fancy suits and telling them to
go scavenge for themselves. Given the size of Metrosphere (100,000 + Layne?),
diverting food / medicine life support supplies for a paltry 200 or so folks
(many of them infants) would be a piece of cake - certainly easier than
explaining where a dozen military prototype black ops suits disappeared to.

4) We've got a dralasite on our side ; ) If there ever was a natural
Houdini, it's Taanik. 

- Disturbing question of the day: when we entered the colonist area, there
were lots of women, old folk - and screaming infants. The infants must have
been born in the last two years to qualify as such. Thus far, we've only
spotted 9 males of all species in this rathole - out of a total population of
at least a 100, maybe as much as 200-300. 

This means that either there are more males we haven't seen (bad news for us
if we escape and run into a mob); that the 9 males we've run into have been
very *ahem* busy (this would be a good omen, because if they're screwing that
much in an environment with limited life support, than they must be on the
dimmer end of the INT / LOG spectrum); or the final possibility - one of the
oldsters lurking in the crowd is really Anthony Quinn (or Tony Randall, or
Hugh Hefner, or)...

From:  John Whitfield (T'Klkk)

>
>This means that either there are more males we haven't seen (bad news
for 
>us
>if we escape and run into a mob); that the 9 males we've run into
have been
>very *ahem* busy (this would be a good omen, because if they're
screwing 
>that
>much in an environment with limited life support, than they must be on
the
>dimmer end of the INT / LOG spectrum); or the final possibility - one
of the
>oldsters lurking in the crowd is really Anthony Quinn (or Tony
Randall, or
>Hugh Hefner, or)...

....or Dick Clark. I swear that man is really a vampire. He hasn't
aged in the past 200 years!! :-)

-JWW

From:  Albin Johnson (Syzygy)

Layne -
How are the Vrusks' legs secured? I was hoping to take advantage of
Syzygy's artificial left fron leg, releasing it from the residual and
shimmying out of the slack it creates. I don't know how having the space
suit on will effect things, but it's worth considering. I just came to the
point where I had to ask - how are eight legs tied to a column?

- your pal AL

From:  Layne Saltern (GM)

>How are the Vrusks' legs secured?

Humans, Yazirans and Dralasites are tied with their backs facing the steel
pillars.

The two Vrusk (Syzygy and T'Klkk) are tied with their chests facing the
pillars. Their hands are tied overhead to the pillar and their front two
ankles are tied to the pillar as well. The six other ankles are not bound.

>I was hoping to take advantage of Syzygy's artificial left fron leg,
>releasing it from the residual and shimmying out of the slack it
>creates.

The spacesuit is a single unit and the spacesuit leg cannot be detached.
The poses an obstacle to this strategy, but if you can come up with a viable
way to make it work, let me know.

From:  John Whitfield (T'Klkk)

Okay, Layne, some clarifications. We're in our suits. Do we have
helmets on as well? (Would a Vrusk even need a helmet since we breathe
through spiracles on our abdomens and not through our mouths like
soft-bodied races.) If so, are conditions so bad that we could not
survive outside the suits?
Also, would any weapons inside the suit have been removed as well? As
an individual with military training, I'm sure T'Klkk would have kept at
least one or two of her knives fastened directly to her person rather
than outside the suit...
 ...for just, I say, for just such an
emergency.

We're tied, hand and food. to support beams, with hands over our heads.
Got that. Are we actually suspended in the air? If so, ouch!! Also,
I have to second my pal Al's question about how the Vrusks' legs are
tied. :-) Always trying to make it difficult.... :-)

We're each tied to a different support beam. Are these beams
equidistant apart? Also, who can see whom? Who is nearest to T'Klkk?

Did we only see women and children in the crowd of refugees, or were
there men as well? I wasn't exactly clear on this.

One more question: are there any kinds of external markings on the
suits of our captors which would allow us to distinguish one individual
from another?

Thanks, Layne, for always keep it exciting!! 

-JWW

From:  Layne Saltern (GM)


>We're in our suits. Do we have
>helmets on as well?

Yes.

>(Would a Vrusk even need a helmet since we breathe
>through spiracles on our abdomens and not through our
>mouths like soft-bodied races.)

In pressureless conditions, a Vrusk needs a helmet to keep his head from
exploding. Imagine a grasshopper in a vacuum chamber--yellow guts all over
the place. It isn't pretty :)

>If so, are conditions so bad that we could not
>survive outside the suits?

Your toxy-rad gauges show that oxygen is barely sufficient to sustain a
limited number of people--preferably if they are inactive. The air pressure
is less than normal, but not lethally so. The man you thought was Dakka
Syte is not in a spacesuit, yet he is still alive.

>Also, would any weapons inside the suit have been removed
>As well? As an individual with military training, I'm sure T'Klkk
>would have kept at least one or two of her knives fastened
>directly to her person rather than outside the suit...

Since it is clearly stated in your character's description that these knives
are strapped to her legs, I will accept that one of them was INSIDE her suit
and not removed by the thugs. However, since it is inside her spacesuit, it
will not be accessible unless she removes the suit.

>We're tied, hand and food. to support beams, with hands
>over our heads. Got that. Are we actually suspended in the air?

No. Your feet are touching the ground.

>We're each tied to a different support beam. Are these beams
>equidistant apart? Also, who can see whom? Who is nearest
>to T'Klkk?

The beams are ten meters apart, arranged in a grid-like fashion. Everyone
can see everyone else my turning his or her head.

Your positions are like this:

KARE URUGG

TAANIK TORK "DAKKA" (STREEL?)

T'KLKK SYZYGY

>Did we only see women and children in the crowd of
>refugees, or were there men as well? I wasn't exactly
>clear on this.

There were a few men in the room but the ones you saw were in very bad
health or in other ways incapacitated. About 75% of the 200 or so people
were children under the age of 5.

>One more question: are there any kinds of external
>markings on the suits of our captors which would allow
>us to distinguish one individual from another?

There are slight differences in size, but other than that there are no
visible differences. It appears that the voices are not masked in any way,
however.

From:  Ruben Rivera (Kare)

Hey Layne please answer if you can then post.


Gentlebeings,

Kare has no problems with checking everyones Secret Decoder Walkie
Talkie Watches...No Problem...We have three techs we should find
anything out of the ordindary. Kare will point out to Zema Insect
warrior princess that the Chroms may not require physical alteration to
turn them into tracking devices, they are high tech communication
devices, and to date we have used them as tracking and listening
devices. Didn't Syzygy track his old chrom. to lost point?

As Kare stares at the ceiling, she can't help but be distracted. Are
those Powered suits on the market? What if she can capture one, or have
one blueprinted...Gypsy Moon could have them in production by...Oh wait,
first she has to get out of these bindings.

Layne, remind me, did you state that "rubberneck" could or could not
re-asorb his (its) blobby, jello arm? IF NO Kare will have to start
whinning alot. 

Also Layne, did Kare get her rifle. The Fake Streel said our equipment
was being sent to up. I don't remember reading that we did. Kare
figures that:

1) That the FAKE Streel did send it (To aid us in the killing of the
REAL Streel) IF yes see 1A or 1B below:

1 A) The equipment did not get to the team before we entered the
building. OR

1 B) We did get it, and it was placed in the piles ahead of us. 

2) The FAKE STREEL Lied.

Kare will turn to the REAL Streel and will ask as many questions as
possible. 

Kare is still bothered by the TIME TABLE, wasn't that nasty bugboy in
charge of the entire settlement when Lost Point was to be recoveried? I
thought Streel came in later.

Does he have any idea how Lost Point was constructed, IE Is the life
support the same as the orginal life support used at First Point. The
tunnel works. She look around as best she can.

Does the REAL Streel have any loyal friends...anywhere. Or does the
Streel Family have a universal secret password for Streel computers.
(Kare will try to keep from smiling when asking this one.)

Kare will ask someone to scratch her back, shes got a nasty itch...she
can't reach it....will someone give me a hand......WHY DO THESE THINGS
ALWAYS HAPPEN...

Someone scratch...my..back!!!!!
Kare

From:  Layne Saltern (GM)

>Didn't Syzygy track his old chrom. to lost point?

He did indeed.

>Are those Powered suits on the market?

No. Not any public market anyway.

>Layne, remind me, did you state that "rubberneck" could or
>could not re-asorb his (its) blobby, jello arm?

Id can reabsorb limbs, but the spacesuit part will still be there. However,
as Andy pointed out, once a spacesuit arm or leg is empty, it should be
easier to pull it out of the ropes. (Pulling a boot through a loop the size
of an ankle may not be so easy, though.) It will still take some doing for
Taanik to free himself this way (i.e. ability checks) so don't count on it
as a 100% solution.

>Also Layne, did Kare get her rifle. The Fake Streel said our equipment
>was being sent to up. I don't remember reading that we did.

That's right. I wasn't very clear on that one. Any equipment that was left
behind in your quarters was delivered by robot soon after you arrived in the
Lost Point monorail terminal. You were able to collect all of this stuff
before proceeding into the government center and getting captured, so you
should have all of your equipment--although it has temporarily been stripped
away.

>Kare is still bothered by the TIME TABLE, wasn't that nasty bugboy in
>charge of the entire settlement when Lost Point was to be recoveried? I
>thought Streel came in later.

That is correct. The man formerly known as Selson Streel was one of the
First Landing leaders at the time, but Maxim Zek'et was in charge. In fact,
it was Zek'et that personally organized the Lost Point reclamation effort.
A few Lost Point settlers were recovered, but most were unaccounted for.

>Does he have any idea how Lost Point was constructed, IE Is the life
>support the same as the orginal life support used at First Point. The
>tunnel works. She look around as best she can.

The general layout of Lost Point is known, since it was explored during the
reclamation effort. (Refer to the map on-line.) The airtubes are much
smaller and do not have moving walkways. The buildings are much simpler.
Every building you have seen has had a single level. (First Landing
buildings, in contrast, consist of dozens of levels connected by elevators
and staircases.) The materials, however, are similar in the two cities,
since Lost Point was built from materials stolen from the original First
Landing project.

>Does the REAL Streel have any loyal friends...anywhere.

Anything the team has read about Selson Streel has pointed out that, before
his involvement in Metrosphere, Selson was a hermit who was not at all
interested in the family business. But, since he IS part of the Streel
family, there should be some family members who would at least know him.

>Or does the Streel Family have a universal secret
>password for Streel computers.

The team would have no way of knowing without asking, but given the paranoia
of successful business tycoons, and unevitable inner-family disagreements
and competition, I think this kind of open access would be unlikely.

>Kare will ask someone to scratch her back, shes got a nasty itch...she
>can't reach it....will someone give me a hand......WHY DO THESE THINGS
>ALWAYS HAPPEN...

[Laughing out loud] :)

From:  John Groszkiewicz (Tork)

Layne K. Saltern wrote:
> 
> >We're each tied to a different support beam. Are these beams
> >equidistant apart? Also, who can see whom? Who is nearest
> >to T'Klkk?
> 
> The beams are ten meters apart, arranged in a grid-like fashion. Everyone
> can see everyone else my turning his or her head.
> 
> Your positions are like this:
> 
> KARE URUGG
> 
> TAANIK TORK "DAKKA" (STREEL?)
> 
> T'KLKK SYZYGY

Until we figure this out for sure Tork will suggest that we refer to our new "cell-mate" 
as "Spider".

> >Did we only see women and children in the crowd of
> >refugees, or were there men as well? I wasn't exactly
> >clear on this.
> 
> There were a few men in the room but the ones you saw were in very bad
> health or in other ways incapacitated. About 75% of the 200 or so people
> were children under the age of 5.

Why do I have this feeling that the males are being used as slave labor in the mines?

TTFN
John johngroz@velocity.net
----------
"Can't say. Saying would be knowing. Don't know. So, can't say." - Zathrus

From:  John Groszkiewicz (Tork)

Okay, a while back it was suggested that we get together and compare notes to solve this 
adventure. With things taking a turn for the worse I suggest that we take up this 
"Clues" thread in an effort to do that.

<>
One thing I must first ask is if we (the players) want to cc: Layne on these 
messages. I sent a copy to him of this first message as a courtesy. IMO, this thread 
is no different from players of a live game discussing the adventure while the GM is in 
the room.

<< Suspicion >>
At this point in time I am in a 'trust noone' frame of mind. Tork's asking Spider if 
he met Maxim is an effort to determine if Maxim is involved with "Dakka". Maxim's 
final report claims that an effort was made to reclaim Lost Point two years ago. I find 
it very suspicious that this 'reclamation project' failed to find 200+ refugees living 
in Lost Point. There is only *ONE* door between these guys and the monorail terminal. 
Granted, the refugees may have moved in during the last two years but I doubt it. I 
guess we could ask them if we get a chance.

TTFN
John johngroz@velocity.net
----------
"Can't say. Saying would be knowing. Don't know. So, can't say." - Zathrus

From:  Albin Johnson (Syzygy)

>>Tork will end his inquiry with an offhand question: "Just one more thing.
>>Have you ever
>>meet Maxim Zek'et?"
>>
>>If Syzygy voices a complaint over this question Tork will stare at him and
>>say "It's
>>just a harmless question, let the man answer." << For *why* Tork is asking
>>see my
>>"[Unity] Clues" thread. >>

Syzygy will have no objections to this line of questioning - after all,
he's not babysitting Zek'et nor does he naturally assume that he's a
guilt-free suspect. I agree with your clue/suspicion that the reclamation
effort was described inadequately. Seeing Lost Point for the first time,
my first impression is "what's the big deal?" If we stumbled so easily
upon the refugees, then they could surely find them.

I don't know about the males working as slave labor thing - interesting and
creative idea. We haven't had access to see the mines up-close, even
though Syzygy ran an analysis on the work patterns of the robots several
times without any results. I was hoping to see if the robots were
gradually changing their patterns in time with Syte's increasing use of
them to his own ends. In light of your suspicion, I wonder if patterns
should have emerged showing the robots serving as 'herders' for the workers
rather than the workers themselves.

To wit, most of what we've found generates a zillion questions.
Unfortunately, we're in no position to do any fact-finding right now.

IC:
Syzygy's lesser mandibles chew softly as Tork consults the group. The
significance of their new discoveries was flooring him along with the
others. What a pack of fools they'd been. Perhaps Kare and Urugg were
right in distrusting these companies. In the midst of the hurried chatter,
Syzygy speaks:

"Tork, you've got some good ideas there. But I agree we have more at stake
getting out before holding a war council. Perhaps 'Spider' has some ideas
as to how to get out of this mess? He's been good doing that so far!"

- your pal AL