OOC: Have at it!
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 05:44, Fri 25 Nov 2022.

Alright - let's fucking GO.

Aradia carried herself with an odd stature - a confident one, but one that seemed somehow alien. In fact, everything about Aradia felt alien to the wastes in a way. Even if one were to disregard her arcane powers, her voice, her demeanour and her strange physical features, it would only take a few moments of conversation about the right subjects to reveal that she wasn't a waster. A deadly sorceress, yes. A dogged scavenger, yes. But not a waster. A waster would've seen the ghost-rock bombs fall. A waster would've had those fell moments seared permanently into their memory.

A dusty gale raked through the witch's red-shock hair and pulled at her coat like a horde of invisible hands. She had a look on her face of thoughtfulness, or wonder, or perhaps scrutiny, gazing over the blasted wastes like a hawk before speaking.

"You know, I've always been curious to ask - how long has the world been this way? You know, ruined and burned like a shitty meal.... I wonder if anyone alive saw this place before whatever happened here happened here...."

OOC: Have at it y'all~

Aisling lowered the harmonica from her mouth, her lips parted. There was a silence, save for the sound of wind blowing dead soil across the ground.

"Let's see, what year is it? 2097 now, yeah? Bombs fell in 2081, I was nine."

Her gaze moved to Aradia, before she continued:

"World had a lot more... structure, for sure. Life wasn't terrible... well, I guess that didn't go for everyone, but I had it ok, considering. It was definitely a... prettier place, overall. Radiation wasn't everywhere. Forgive me, but... you don't look like a kid, and the only people nowadays who don't know what the world was like before are kids. Where the hell have you been?"

"No offense taken.... but here's the truth - I don't actually know WHERE I've been...."

Aradia didn't quite move her gaze out towards Aisling, though she did continue talking, her voice increasing in confidence as she recalled the details of her awakening.

"I woke up inside a coffin made of glass, wearing nothing but a weird suit made of.... flesh? Well, it felt like flesh, but it was much stronger.... probably nanofiber or something.... and I have memories - I had siblings, I think, and a mother.... so I was probably someplace before that.... and I have my magic! That's like... a part of me! And all of the knowledge I have on it HAD to have come from somewhere or someone or at least some time to practice...."

Aradia suddenly stopped, averting her crimson sights over to Aisling finally with a look of.... first thoughtfulness, but eventually apology - "I'm afraid I just.... can't seem to remember how I got here.... and nobody else that I've asked about it seems familiar with the story either...."

OOC: Aradia has siblings? THAT'S interesting, isn't it? Isn't it (violently nudges David with this potential conflict hook)?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:11, Sat 26 Nov 2022.

“I remember very little from before the bombs, I remember preparing for a dance. Preparing for a party, I believe it was supposed to be for my older sister.”
 Coaxoch looks longingly at the horizon.
“I haven’t given the past much thought in the past years, I wonder how my sister is faring. Do you remember much of your siblings, red?”

Aradia shifted slightly, her posture straightening, before looking over to Coaxoch.

"I remember.... very little of them, actually...."

Her gaze was decidedly forlorn, even as she furrowed her brow and cracked her knuckles.

"I don't remember their names, or anything about them.... they just.... I remember they looked just like me, and that there were many of them...."

All of a sudden, processing something that was said a moment ago, she rights herself and raises a finger for a brief moment as if pondering something. Suddenly withdrawing it, Aradia finally returns with a verdict.

"I like that nickname.... I like that a lot...."

OOC: How come Aradia's siblings all have the same mother, and why have they all got the same surname? That's weird. That's weird as fuck.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Sun 27 Nov 2022.

Coaxoch tries to continue conversing.
“Don’t worry you’re not too different in that way, the only people I remember from before the bombs are my mother and my sister. My mother has passed, and my sister…” He gives the thought some time to linger.
“I’m not sure where my sister is but odds are good she’s with my mother now, I’m sure the other one probably has a similar experience.” He says referring to Aisling .

Ash's gaze lowers to the ground, in a rather matter-of-fact tone, she speaks.

"Parents died in the bombings, never was close with any extended family, odds are they're dead too."

She raises her head again and continues.

"Save for some kind people I've met who helped me survive when I was a kid, I've kept to myself this whole time... keeping the mail going."

Alex stuck with the posse for a time, and in the future would interact meaningfully with them, but of course he was not destined to join up with these other cowpokes. Perhaps this was the first sign that it was not meant to be.

"None of y'all remember? Hell, I feel old..."

That was all he said...

"Well, I remember some things, actually - I WAS a teenager when the apocalypse hit, I think.... maybe...."

Aradia looked as if she was choosing her words carefully. No, rather she looked as if she was searching for the words to use.

"I think I remember being told not to tell people my surname. I can't actually remember why, but they told me it'd be a really bad move to tell people my surname.... I don't even remember who told me that...."

A static silence held itself in the air for just a moment.

"Maybe it's because we were all witches! I wonder if my siblings are witches too, heh...."

Aradia giggled to herself slightly, though her laughter sounded spookily out-of-place in the wastelands. Not unlike Aradia herself, really.

OOC: Aradia's real name y'all? Aradia Deez Nuts.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Fri 02 Dec 2022.

Coaxoch thinks about that statement for a second and then comes to a strange realization.
“Huh, that would make you the oldest of us. That’s really strange. I don’t think many people could tell off looks alone. All in all it doesn’t matter how old we are if we have trouble remembering”

Alex frowned.

"If she's the oldest of us, I'm a horse's ass."

In reply to Coaxoch (msg # 11):

Aradia paused for a moment, as one might do when faced with something incredibly bizarre and yet entirely true.

"You know, I never quite thought of it that way, but.... you're right.... I doubt I'm the oldest biologically, though - I mean the first place I woke up was in a stasis-tank, it's probable I've been held in suspended animation for years...."

She turned to Alex, semi-apologetically and semi-teasingly.

"I don't even know my own age.... but regardless, my bet's on you being a horse's ass, unfortunately~"

OOC: She DEFINITELY had a past before the stasis, right guys? Right guys?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Tue 06 Dec 2022.

“Have you ever heard music before?”
Coaxoch becomes more and more curious the more he speaks to the read haired enigma before him.

In reply to Coaxoch (msg # 14):

"Well, yes! I've heard some music before! But.... it's been a LONG time since I've heard any, the wastes aren't exactly very musical.... But...."

Aradia's crimson eyes almost glimmered as she recalled something, deep within the recesses of her memory.

"I remember listening to this computer-music as a teen! It was made by some band or artist called Mad Punk, or Daft Junk or something! You know anything like that?"

OOC: Both Aradia and Sucy (MASKS) are Daft Punk fans. Is this a trait that ALL my characters share? Maybe.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:20, Tue 06 Dec 2022.

“Most of the music I’d heard before the bombs were in Spanish, so probably not.
Hey, have any of you seen a CD player before?”
Coaxoch asks with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

In reply to Coaxoch (msg # 16):

"A Cee-Dee Player? What's that, some kind of extreme flirt who likes the third and fourth letters of the alphabet?" asked Aradia, puzzled. She'd heard about digital data-slugs which could store music, but not this so-called Cee-Dee Player....

OOC: And then he said "it's playin' time" and CD'd all over those motherfuckers.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:31, Tue 06 Dec 2022.

Coaxoch turns to Alex and Aisling with a forced smile quickly losing the glimmer of hope in his eyes

Ash keeps her response simple and earnest.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh ok…" Coaxoch's head drops in utter defeat

OOC: Well, it's been a long December. We're on the other end and moving forward with our game. :)

"CD player? Didn't know you were born last century, hoss."

Alex laughed, in a way only he knew to.

The posse found themselves chatting about their lives, strange as those lives could be, and boy were they strange, and found themselves sitting around a wasteland campfire next to some urban wreckage.

One would be hard pressed to recall what town stood here, once upon a time. It wasn't big, but it was big enough to have a little downtown, with some brick buildings even.

It was a serene moment. But this wasn't to last.

There was a rumble on the wind very suddenly, and lights came into view in the distance. The dirt shook under their feet.

It was gangers--and it sounded like a decent number of 'em, in point of fact. The posse would have to decide how to proceed, and quickly.

Coaxoch’s eyes sharpen at the coming battle. He tells the rest of the party to scramble as he looks for somewhere to hide for an ambush.

OOC: Coaxoch, roll a stealth test at a +2 for good conditions.

"Ah, shit... bum fuckin' luck, this is."

Ash looks for a ditch to dive in, or something in the environment to quickly hide behind.

OOC: Ash and Coaxoch, roll a Stealth test at +2 for good conditions.

OOC: 03:24, Today: Aisling Kelly rolled 5,6 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max ((3,4)).

OOC: I'm gonna do a little bit of railroading, just to kickstart this thing.

Aisling and Coaxoch grabbed onto the cocksure witch, dashing the fire out as they ducked into the barely-stable remains of a red brick building. There, crouching in the ash, the crew realized the wisdom of this decision, as the rumbling increased to incredible levels before they ever saw a light cross over their fire.

Many vehicles came to a halt near their campsite--dozens, as far as the posse could tell from their spot in the dark. The vehicles, hardy and built for raiding, had an intense aspect about them. Spikes shooting out of wheels, guns and harpoon guns and hooks mounted. Each vehicle had an overgrown compliment of raiders, each in outlandish gear: chains, leather, hard plastic, strange weapons. The vehicle in front this day featured a large and muscular man, a man with hand grenades lining his belt, a horrific makeshift mace perched on his back. The back of the ATV he rode had three smaller men on it, each carrying a bevy of javelins. He stepped off, and regarded the fire pit.

"Recent. In the rubble, could be far."

His retinue cackled gleefully, spying about for those who must have set up this camp. There was joyous murder in their eyes.

It dawned on them who they were confronted with--even Aradia had heard tell of these men. The Road Orcs. The worst scum left of humankind, the most brutal road gang in the wastes. Hundreds of killers, they say. It seemed this was meant to be a bad day. Alex looked to the rest of them, a cold sweat forming over his face.

OOC: What you do next will likely determine if you're going to see someone in the group die or not. This is, by far, the most dangerous random encounter on the table.

Aisling looked over everyone in the group, and gave them a simple, universal gesture. Her index finger pointing up, and placed over her pursed lips. If they stayed put... and quiet... they might get out of this alive.

Ash wasn't a praying girl, but golly, she considered it for a second there.

Coaxoch stays silent as he casts omen of Mictlan to prepare for the worst. He gives everyone a moment to take action and he’ll follow their lead.

In reply to Coaxoch (msg # 30):

Coaxoch rolled 34 using 2d8+1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+8+7)23,3,(6+2)8.  Omen of mictlan