JANUARY TDM/EVENT

[monstertruckers]

code

The storm drives the Convoy to the very summit of the mountains, before hitting a blinding pitch. The wind howls and drives snow in a way that promises to freeze everything… And there’s also a twist of smoke in the air, to further blind everything.

There’s one thing visible through the storm: a massive fortress clinging to the side of the mountain. The Convoy pulls up into the shelter. It seems this will be the best place to wait out the weather, even if the storm lasts for weeks.

It’s a cold welcome for new arrivals. The garage offers scant protection from the elements, and a winter storm rages outside. Snow, lighting, and thunder all blend together and do their best to break the windows and doors of the structure.

The storm itself shows no signs of abating, at least until several days have passed. So it’s up to the new arrivals to figure out how to survive the storm, find better shelter… And weather the strange changes foisted onto them.

01: SUMMONING CIRCLE

New Drifters arrive to a cold and half frozen garage, almost swallowed up by snow drifts. The Convoy is just visible through sheets of snow falling from the skies, and it is parked in the shelter of a nearby fortress. Getting out of the garage and reaching the fortress will take some work, though.

Starting with digging out through the snow. At least there’s a shovel or two inside the garage and the gas station. But digging through the snow is still cold work, and it’s imperative to duck back in the garage and find ways to warm up.

There’s still a small fire burning in the corner of the garage, near the summoning circle. It curiously doesn’t seem to need fuel to keep burning… Though throwing more on it will certainly increase the heat of the flames. Be advised that the fire will also burn clothing and flesh if a Drifter gets too close to it.

02: FORTRESS

The abandoned fortress offers some reprieve from the elements… But the prior battles have found a way to seep into the stones. Ice and Fire both have an effect on the surroundings.
+FIRE Condition: Arcane lava is flowing through the foundations and seeping up through the stones of the building. This is especially clear in the kitchen and dining hall. It may be toasty to the touch, but it also threatens to set things aflame; objects and people alike. Drifters weak to fire will suffer from the increased temperatures.
+ICE Condition: The extremes of the fortress are freezing over in enchanted ice, leaving only the main hall and kitchen with any heat. Drifters who lack ice affinity risk frost bite and hypothermia while exploring the other areas of Bastion. Direct contact with the ice also carries a risk of encasing the limb or the entire Drifter in ice. Might need some help getting chipped out.

In the midst of all this, there are still rooms and beds available for those who want a change of pace from the convoy, or bedrolls for those who want to camp out in the main hall.

03: START UP

After digging out, one can see that there are various cars surrounding the garage. Some of them parked directly outside and sheltered from the worst of the storm. But a few are further out, and will also need to be dug out of the snow.

There’s also a certain connection between different newcomers and cars. Something that suggests a particular vehicle is theirs, backed up by possessing the key to that vehicle. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.

…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.

04: WILD ELEMENTS

Even when taking shelter in the fortress, the storms from outside have a way of seeping through the bricks. And trying to take root inside any Drifters. Cold mists and winds seep into the castle, along with fire traveling across the floors and lightning crashing against the roof.

Drifters exposed to extreme elements will find those same elements seeping into their blood.

Teeth also grow along portions of the walls in long fangs, ready to snag at any newcomers. Drawing blood on those teeth can result in changes in the new arrivals… As well as pulling a monster out of the hallway to try and draw more blood.

These monsters frequently manifest as:
+Gyuki, a spider and bull demon fusion.
+YinYang, a Frankenstein abomination
+And Malzeno, a strange eldritch dragon.

05: FUEL PUMPS

The fortress also holds a network of pipes leading through the halls and connecting to the gas station. Text from the Convoy asks for at least a few Drifters to follow the pipes to their source, and activate them. Following those pipes leads to a chamber in the base of the fortress, with basins full of liquid.

Glowing and quicksilver liquid, at that. Liquid that looks like it could have been poured straight out of the moon. An inscription on the tanks reads “Moonshard fuel refinement” while a stack of papers details the various attempts to distill moonshards into an energy usable by humans without mutating them. It seems they’ve mostly succeeded with this attempt: once the valves are turned on, the fuel can be pumped into the Convoy and top off almost depleted fuel tanks.

But there is still a risk. Coming into contact with the fuel can instill a sudden, ravenous hunger and push new changes to the front. Prolonged exposure activates all traits at once, and will only revert the person when another monster has been hunted down, and their energy absorbed.

06: IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

The walls of Bastion reach an impressive 20 feet up and stretch for long distances… And have Husks merged into them, often in the hallways and occasionally in the rooms. The Husks clearly belong to either the Silver Tear or the Steel Wardens, given the insignias on them. Many of them are locked together, frozen in a fight. And their last words and thoughts are written on the walls in gold and silver script.

Most of the words are frantic, about defending the moon shards from heretics or freeing the moon shards from confinement. But if any of the words are read aloud, the Husks react by merging together and spawning a berserk heavy tank/tankceratops. Or a large Burner type monster. OR a dragon dinosaur with exploding, punching fists. Drifters may also get caught up in the monster changes, and fuse their own monster forms together!

07: MONSTER FUSE

An element saturation isn’t the only strange thing in the fortress. Anyone who makes contact with the fortress stones will find themselves building a resonance with a fellow Drifter. This grows stronger the more time they spend in the fortress.

Until finally the bond solidifies on the next change the Drifters go through and hits a fever pitch. The next threat they encounter WILL force a transformation. When that happens, their next change fuses their two monster forms together into something new.

Their fusion form is a combination of two Drifter’s traits. It is also twice the size it would normally be, and is well suited to taking on any giant sized monsters. It can even give Drifters a brief insight into the memories of their partner, as the fusion takes place.

When this happens, both Drifters can switch control over their merged form. Those with greater synchronism will have more control, while those who squabble and fight will find that their monster form becomes more feral and savage. This fusion lasts until the threat abates: when that happens, the fusion breaks apart, and Drifters return to their prior state.

08: STORM CALL

There’s something outside that isn’t just the storm; it calls out in a howl that can make the blood run cold, and also pulls at one’s feet. Until it hits a point where the Bastion doesn’t feel like a restful place. Drifters who hear the storm call need to step outside and find the source; the storm itself isn’t particular on if they search on their own feet, or behind some wheels.

Drifters who travel on their own feet will swiftly be overwhelmed by the storm, and a moon warp hiding in the snow, and forced to transform. It doesn’t help that there’s wild saber-tooth Barioth wyverns prowling the wilds and ready to pounce.

Being inside a vehicle helps to shield them from the worst of the storm and the changes, and also gives Drifters more traversal options:
Tough cars are capable of wading through even the deepest snow without getting bogged down, as well as towing any stricken or stuck vehicles out of the drifts.
Fast vehicles can follow rivers of fire and lava that move through the wilds, without burning up due to prolonged exposure.

Eventually Drifters will find their way towards the summit of the mountain, and the discovery waiting beyond.

09: MONSTER CHANGES

Between the weird fuel, the teeth in the fortress, and hostile elements trying to force changes, new arrivals can quickly find their humanity getting worn away and new monster transformations taking place.
With the cold weather and regal structures, the environment calls out to Undead. As long as the elements rage, all Undead traits are available and also:
+Warm Blood: Undead can easily track living bodies through the wilds and the fortress, sensing the warmth of their blood in contrast to the storm.
+Rivalry: Tends to form rivalry with other Undead monsters, becoming territorial and protective of potential food sources.
+Ice Affinity: Undead find themselves better preserved by the cold and thriving in it, energized and strengthened by the snow, and even taking on glowing blue veins and eyes.
+Fire Fear: The presence of fire inspires aversion, and even terror and need to flee from it. Smaller flames like candles provoke unease, larger flames like a bonfire result in more panic.
+Holy Symbols: Presence of Steel Warden symbols (a sword piercing moon) can cause unease in Undead, and even repel them a location.
+Snow Shift: Exposure to snow forces the Undead into a more bestial form. This could resemble a bat, wolf, or deer/horse/bull.

10: FROZEN HEART

At the summit of the mountains is a collection of freakishly tall and twisted trees. In their branches is a collection of frozen hearts growing like strange fruit. And further up is a massive object that looks like a deer skull with branching antlers. The ice storm flows from its eyes and mouth… And it shows no signs of ceasing without destroying the skull.

The frozen hearts are giving off a cold aura that freezes anything that doesn’t resist ice. Drifters will need to neutralize the hearts to dispel the cold aura. The hearts can be melted by fire, shot down with ranged weapons, magic, etc. When burned, the hearts give off a smoke that causes a terrible hunger and need to hunt in anyone who inhales it. Shattered heart shards also rain down and embed themselves in Drifters, and cause a berserk fury in those they cut.

But with each felled heart the barrier of the skull weakens, as does the storm. When the last of the frozen hearts falls, the storm skull fractures and breaks apart like brittle ice. Drifters can deliver the finishing blows, ending the storm in the process. After that, the way down the mountain becomes clear, and the Convoy may continue down without worry.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Fortress Library: Books and screens seem to have fused together. Assorted data about monsters is on display here; everything from hunting strategy to contradicting praise of their strength. (Read: all lore information from the monster pages is available IC.)

Dining Hall: This time around the gas station and garage are empty of supplies… But there’s plenty of preserved foods in the castle kitchen and dining hall. Though the hot dishes are almost painfully spicy, and the cold served foods can almost freeze a mouth shut.

Snow Fields: Surrounding the fortress are fields of snow, ready to bog down anyone who wanders too far into them. It would be next to impossible for anyone to make it far on two feet without the aid of a vehicle… Or the aid of a monstrous transformation.

Fire Snow: The storm can wildly swing between temperatures, from freezing to burning with how the snowflakes fluctuate. They can suck warmth out of a Drifter’s body on contact, or risk burning any exposed skin.

Armory: The Steel Wardens kept an armory and arena close by for sparring. Various weapons and armor are stored here; some antiquated, some modern and augmented with technology. And everything but the older models are badly damaged by the elements; frozen over and metal crackled, or half melted from fire. They won’t have much use as weapons, but could be used as metal materials.

View from the Peaks: When the storm clears, one can look out from the peaks and see what’s next. A strange, twisted landscape stretches out below the peaks. And beyond that is something on the horizon; a massive city reaching upwards, and the buildings intact and gleaming. Going back to the Convoy reveals a new update in the database: Nirvana is near. And will be reached in an estimated 60 days from now.


NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS

Comments

[androidvictoriam]

[ There's no easy answer to a direct question about his rank, and Danse would have been torn anyway. Even in his suicide note, the one Nora had gently taken from him and disposed of after talking him down, he'd signed off as Danse, former paladin. He can't pretend it hasn't already bothered him to get dismissively referred to as a knight around here, when regardless of how it all ended, he'd earned that shield and laurel on his armor. He hadn't been any less a synth when he'd fought the battles that got him promoted for exemplary service. Even Maxson had been swayed enough by that argument to let him live.

He just can't get enough of a read yet on Maximus to tell whether his deference is coming from a place of fanaticism, extremity in his loyalty to the Brotherhood's hierarchy, or just earnest eagerness and a desire to let someone else make the scary decisions in an unfamiliar place. But how Maximus responds to the briefing ought to be a good indication one way or another, so Danse capitalizes on the opportunity to avoid the first question a little longer while answering the second. ]

The issue is twofold. In short, we've been abducted by some as-yet unknown organization for the purpose of...I don't know. Mitigating whatever's been done to this world that left it in worse shape than ours. I've never been the best one to explain the details, and my memory really needs refreshing, but as I recall, we're currently en route to the last bastion of civilization there is, and we'll presumably receive further orders from there.

That's not the part I expect you to take issue with. That's what a knight of the Brotherhood ought to be doing anywhere. The complication lies in...well, you can see some of it for yourself.

[ Maximus can be forgiven for not noticing the wolf ears that somewhat blend into Danse's hair when one isn't looking, and the tail is currently stuffed with excruciating discomfort down the back of his jumpsuit leg because he hasn't had time to take a pocketknife to the canvas yet, but the ears do become more apparent once Danse gestures to them. ]

There's some energy here that...mutates us, like FEV. Some people get hit more severely than others, but there aren't many you'd recognize as strictly human anymore. You won't be spared.

[stolenvalour]

[It is so easy to fall back into old, recognisable patterns. Max listens carefully to everything Danse says, filing it away. Things don't sound all that different here than back home, if he's being honest. A new world, slowly decaying and in bad shape... well, that's basically the Wasteland, and he's lived in that his whole life.]

[It's the ears Danse suddenly exposes that catch his attention. Max has the completely absurd thought that Danse is turning into something like Dogmeat, and he takes a step closer to get a better look at the ears.]

Does it... turn us into ghouls, sir?

[That's really the only question he has that requires immediate answering, and the trepidation in his voice is obvious. Not at the thought of being turned into a ghoul himself; it wouldn't be his first choice, but there are worse fates. No, he needs to know how Danse feels about this kind of thing, and if he's going to expect his newly-appeared Brother to go on a slaughtering rampage with him. Because Max doesn't want that. He doesn't want that at all.]

[androidvictoriam]

Not necessarily.

[ The trepidation would be a completely understandable and reasonable reaction to this prospect for a lot of reasons, Danse thinks, so it's still not an indicator one way or the other as they feel each other out. He's never hesitated himself to joke grimly about putting friends out of their misery if radiation turns them feral--but that's feral, and at least as far as he's concerned, the distinction is crucial. But the lack of hostility about the ears is encouraging. ]

It varies, and I don't know if there's any predicting it before the changes really start to set in. There used to be at least one man here that I took for a ghoul. I mean, not exactly, but for all intents and purposes. I don't know what happened to him, but it's a shame he's gone. He was a damn fine blacksmith.

[ Danse isn't really afraid of saying that much, if only because even during his own tenure with the Brotherhood, it wouldn't have been controversial enough to get him in hot water. Super mutants might be affronts to nature and need to be put down before they eat people, synths might be heinous abuses of technology and monuments to the hubris of science without ethics, but ghouls are still tenuously civilians as long as they keep the peace.

And some of them are perfectly nice, really. Danse is a big proponent of ghoul respectability politics. ]

[stolenvalour]

[Feral ghouls and super mutants with a taste for living human flesh are categories in and of themselves, but Max is coming around on the idea of regular ghouls. If they can still talk and communicate and act like regular people, then aren't they regular people? Why should he shoot on sight if someone isn't threatening him?]

[Regardless, Danse's ears get another cursory glance before Max dismisses them. He's sure Quintus would have something to say about them, probably something foul and hostile, but he can't find it in himself to care. Danse has been friendly and kind to him, friendlier than most of the Brothers in his own chapter, and that has gone a long way towards winning Max's loyalty.]

So you... didn't have orders to shoot him?

[Max is trying very hard to keep his voice level and calm. If he weren't so stressed and in a new, strange place, he might have succeeded. As it is, he sounds very young, and there's a definite hint of hope in his voice. Please tell him you don't shoot ghouls on sight, Danse.]

[androidvictoriam]

[ There's something in that audibly hopeful undercurrent that reminds Danse of Scribe Haylen. Ever-idealistic Haylen, who'd joined up more for the gadgets than the guns in the first place, who rarely encountered a life she wouldn't rather save or spare if she could, who always had more questions about the cause than he would have liked her to, and yet never had been anything short of a model soldier that he'd held up as an example to others. (Lucy will only make Danse even more desperately homesick for her.)

Danse hopes it's more like that, anyway, and not like the tale of that unfortunate initiate who'd been so traumatized over shooting ferals that he'd begun stealing supplies to feed them, getting another good young knight killed for his futile efforts. But some inclination toward mercy is admirable, and rarer in the Brotherhood now than Danse might once have liked to think. He leans on his shovel as he weighs his words. ]

He wasn't a hostile. The mandate to eliminate a threat simply didn't apply. But that's...not really the question to ask, in this place.

[ Danse knows perfectly damn well that the definition of "mandate" and "threat" tend to be exactly as broad or narrow as the Brotherhood wants them to be in any given situation, and it hasn't always bothered him, either. But that answer, and Maximus' question, still imply a command structure that they're both too far away from now to worry much about. ]

We make our own orders here, Knight. There's nobody to hold us accountable. Whatever cause or duty you might think you need to carry with you from home, now you need to step back and ask yourself if it serves the goal here of getting us all to our destination alive. That's what matters now. When we get out to that camp, know that nobody in it is the enemy. We're depending on one another here, and we don't have reinforcements.

[ It's roughly the same thing Arcade had told him, when he'd been new and frothing like a rabid dog about the Enclave. The ratio of earnest, principled defense of others versus self-preservation in the face of Brotherhood grudge-bearing might have been similar, too, had Danse more reason to think Maximus would turn on him if he knew more details, but that fear is ebbing away as they speak. ]

[stolenvalour]

[Some--a lot--of the tension bleeds out of Max's shoulders when Danse tells him he hadn't shot the maybe-ghoul. If they're not in the habit of shooting people here just because of what they happen to be, then Max can work with that. He can work with that just fine.]

So the mission parameters are getting to our destination, and relying on a small unit to do so, because no backup or reinforcements are coming.

[That should be grim and worry him, but hell, he's been in worse spots. He at least has some tentative allies here, instead of being in the Wasteland on his own. And he'd frankly rather work as part of a team than lone-wolf it towards wherever they're going.]

And where is it we're going, sir?

[They might make their own orders here, but it's becoming ever more clear that Max will have no problem following orders that come from Danse.]

[androidvictoriam]

Precisely.

[ The mission summation could be the end of it, if he had a better or more certain answer to that pressing question. It's what Maximus should be asking, what anyone sensible should be, but that doesn't mean Danse has any better information to give him, and what he does have is months out of date to boot. ]

Honestly, I don't know what to tell you about that. I'm not even sure what to think myself. We're told it's a place called Nirvana, but what exactly we're supposed to find there is...unclear. I've heard rumors of anything from a cure for these mutations to a way to get us home, but I'll believe it when I see it. We can hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[ He probably ought to be less skeptical about the idea of going home, since he's pretty sure that's...where he's been, but, well. Obviously it didn't take. The mechanism seems to need some work. ]

Ask around the convoy, though. Maybe people who've spent more time here know something I don't. I recall there being a few scribe-types doing good research into it all. I'm drawing a blank on their names, but there's a radio frequency they like to discuss their findings on.

[stolenvalour]

All right. I'll wait for a debrief from them.

[And in the meantime, Max throws his shoulders into helping Danse shovel the snow. What, did Danse think Max would go wander off to find one of these people who might know more about Nirvana? Certainly not! There is a Brother here doing a job, a senior Brother at that, and Max is going to help him until he's shooed away.]

[It doesn't hurt that Danse has, thus far, been more patient and kind to Max than Brothers he's known for years. That has gone a long way towards securing Max's loyalty, along with the fact that Danse seems opposed to the kind of indiscriminate slaughter the Brothers of San Fernando revel in.]

Are we the only Brothers here?

[androidvictoriam]

[ The look on Danse's face, as he watches Maximus shovel faster, is prouder already than he realizes, pleased and refreshed and a little fond even after so brief an acquaintance. He's missed working with someone this way, and until now, he hasn't been sure he'd ever get to experience anything like it again. Not any time soon, at the very least.

And even some of the better knights he's known tend to have less work ethic than this, to complain when expected to dig latrines or cut pathways or make campfires, to let the promotion go to their heads and think the title and the new suit of power armor confer some kind of privileged exemption from the unromantic side of duty. Not so with this one, clearly.

If only he didn't keep asking direct questions that Danse can't really answer both safely and honestly. The faint smile drops quickly off his face again, and he digs his shovel hard through the last of the snow blocking their way, creating a tunnel that now they just need to widen a little further. ]

At the moment, yes.

[ At the moment, of course, there is no such thing as Brothers plural here, but Danse will go with more of the spirit of the question. ]

There was a brief period where we had someone who'd been granted honorary knight status for service back in the Capital Wasteland. I'd worked with her there a long time ago. People have been known to...come and go around here, I suppose.

[ He's still trying to figure out exactly what the hell is going on with that, so he opts not to confuse the issue any further by bringing up his own experience, when there are still more pressing things to warn Maximus about in light of that question anyway. ]

This isn't to say that there aren't people here familiar with the Brotherhood. There are plenty. But it's decidedly unpopular. I don't mean to say that you'll be treated with hostility, but don't expect your rank to earn you any goodwill. You'll be better off keeping discussion of it to a minimum unless you're with me.

[stolenvalour]

[Max is busy scraping at the sides of the tunnel, so he doesn't see the way Danse's expression changes. He does find it a little odd that Danse doesn't know about Intelligence Officer Pontius, but then, guys in intelligence don't always reveal themselves. Pontius might not have met Danse yet, or is keeping a low profile. Max won't bring him up; he is already deeply enamoured with Pontius and Danse both, and wants to stay on their good sides. Blowing an intelligence officer's cover immediately wouldn't make either of them happy.]

I've already met Doctor Arcade, sir.

[Who fished him out of a snowbank and then flew him around in a vertibird, and has thus been categorised as All Right, in Max's head. His expression does sour when Danse mentions the Brotherhood isn't popular.]

I know. There's someone I know from my world here who doesn't like them very much. [But then, the Ghoul doesn't like anyone or anything, except possibly Dogmeat, so whatever.] I wasn't planning on pulling rank with anyone. I haven't been a Knight very long, so I'm still learning how to do it. And...

[And here he pauses, because as nice as Danse has been, Max isn't entirely sure he'll want to hear what he says next.]

And I don't want anyone doing stuff for me because they're afraid. I want to help, not boss everyone around.

[androidvictoriam]

[ Something about the to-the-point bluntness of the retort gets an actual laugh out of Danse, an almost startled chuckle that spills out of its own accord, because yeah, there's no point in pretending that's not exactly who he was talking about. Nobody here likes the Brotherhood, but even Deacon isn't quite so spirited in his condemnation of it.

(Impersonation of an officer, apparently, is another matter. If Danse were aware of this at the moment, there would be trouble in wienermobile paradise.) ]

Well, if you came out of that unscathed, I don't think I need to warn you any further.

[ He sobers, after a second, and the look of already-fond approval is perhaps a little more noticeable this time, clear as Danse's emotions usually are. ]

You've already learned the most important lesson about being a knight, then. The point of leadership is service, not self-indulgence. First to charge, last to retreat.

If you've taken that to heart, everything else should follow from it. Keep those principles close and nurture them, and you'll be on track to make a fine paladin once you've got more combat experience under your belt.

[stolenvalour]

[Max hadn't been trying to make Danse laugh, and after a second of checking to make sure he's being laughed with and not at, he joins in with a shy smile. He likes laughing with people, but he's had much more experience being laughed at, particularly from higher Brothers.]

He was all right. I think... I gave him some news that upset him, so he didn't get too mad about the Brotherhood.

[Danse's face is an open book, and Max positively blossoms under that look of approval. He nods at his assessment about being a knight--that's what Max thought too, but apparently there are a whole bunch of exceptions and loopholes to those rules that he's not aware of--and actually grins when Danse mentions paladins.]

You really think that, sir? That I could be a paladin someday?

[And then, in a gush of excitement:]

Can you teach me?