This session had just one player. Interestingly enough, the dice only got rolled once, when X'hara was trying to convince the humans to allow her to carry the child.


Session Start: Tue Aug 03 20:41:52 2004
Session Ident: #Trollbabe
* Logging #Trollbabe to 'logs\#Trollbabe.MagicStar.log'
<Vaxalon> X'hara is on her way to Oasis, a cluster of human domes. For the time being, her path runs along an ancient highway. It makes a good way to travel because the pavement keeps the foliage from getting too dense.
okay she walks along the cracked pavement whistling to herself....
<Vaxalon> On either side, the dense jungle of the wildlands dominates. In the Old World, it is said, it would be green, nothing but green, but to you it is a riot of color. Red, purple, green, blue, bright and dark, pure and muddy, running one into the other like a painter's pallette that has been trampled.
she continues to follow the highway....
<Vaxalon> She sees, up ahead, the telltale dark area of yet another collapsed overpass. They are simple enough to walk around, but they are common places for dangerous beasts to lair, or for ambushes.
she grips her staff tigthly as her whistling dies away and she skirts the edge of collapsed heap
<Vaxalon> As she skirts the pile of collapsed concrete and twisted metal, coming down what once was an onramp, X'hara sees that there is some kind of vehicle stopped near the rubble. It has the heavy, crude look of recent human construction, rather than an artifact of the Old World. It appears to have suffered some sort of breakdown, because some of its exterior access panels have been carefully removed. There's no sign of a tech, though...
<Vaxalon> no tools scattered around, no spare parts.
<Vaxalon> It's quiet.
she approaches the vehicle carefully listening for any sound, It may have something she can trade with the city up ahead so she approaches carefully
<Vaxalon> A human voice, a man's, comes from inside the machine. "You there! Stop where you are. I'm armed, I'll burn you down where you stand."
<Vaxalon> The vehicle is about the size of two large SUV's side by side. It has a dirty smokestack sticking up out of the top, and its iron plates have several viewports and gunports.
she steps back having experience with how dangerous the purestrain weapons can be "I will not harm you, I am travelling to the city of Oasis, are you alright"/
do you want me to tell them about you when I get there? maybe they can help you
<Vaxalon> There's a pause from inside the vehicle. "You're on your way to Oasis?"
yes are you too?
<Vaxalon> "Taint!" He says it like a curse. "I was hoping you were coming the other way. Look... we need some help. If you help us get to Oasis, I'll make sure you get a good reward for it."
<Vaxalon> "Decent clothes, food, a bath."
<Vaxalon> A hatch unscrews creakily, and clanks open.
we can help each other since we both travel there.....you will have to walk with me if your vehicle doesn't work....
<Vaxalon> The man clambers out. He's dressed in the standard protective gear that humans always seem to wear when outside their protected homes... heavy suit, helmet with air filters, gloves and boots.
you best take what you can, scavengers will strip it pretty quck if you leave it alone....
<Vaxalon> He's got an insignia painted on the shoulder, that looks like a dull green circle with a white square in the middle. "There's not much left that we can carry."
<Vaxalon> He assists another person out... about half his size. A child, most likely.
<Vaxalon> The child is silent. The body language speaks volumes of fear, though.
X;hara nods to herself inwardly ,all are protective of their young, but the purestrains doubly so.....
<Vaxalon> The man holds the child's hand to assist climbing down from the vehicle's hull. He's got a satchel over his shoulder.
alright then we best hurry if we want to make oasis before night......
<Vaxalon> "We've got some food, and a few other things... but most of the gear was taken by the techs when they went back for help."
<Vaxalon> "They should have been back this morning."
<Vaxalon> The child hides behind the man's legs.
Oasis is that way (points) is that where they headed?
<Vaxalon> "Yes."
I would think they would have made it by now......still as I said we best start, maybe we'll meet them on the way back
<Vaxalon> The man takes a good look at you through the flat glass lenses of his mask. "You're... you're not human." He starts walking.
<Vaxalon> He tries to stay back a bit from you, letting you go first, staying where he can see you.
she peers mockingly into the lenses like peephole "are only puresrains human"?
she laughs "don't worry at least I have only 2 arms and legs"
<Vaxalon> He seems a bit cheered by that. "Not /entirely/ human, I should say."
she winks back at him over her shoulder "but only one head, handicapped you know".....
<Vaxalon> He quickens his step a bit to keep up with you. The child hustles to stay close to the man.
<Vaxalon> The man says, "My name's Hoosier. Captain Orlando Hoosier."
Hah! back at the village they called me 'their'....
human
but I am name X''hara of Geneline Abb447G
<Vaxalon> "Oh... Oh! I had... I never expected to meet one of you... uh, people."
Oh why not? we 'people' are most of what's left.......
<Vaxalon> He shrugs.
she looks curiously back at the kid,....
<Vaxalon> After about three hours of hiking, rather slowly for the benefit of the child, you come upon the remains of a battle. There are many scorchmarks on the ground, and several broken or burned spears. There are no bodies, however.
that is one of your lavae? I thought you never brought them out of the domes....
<Vaxalon> "Not larvae... children. And no, we don't, usually."
picks up one of the spears looking them over....does this look like mutant workmanship?
<Vaxalon> It's definitely Troll work. It's heavy, and has a tip made of a scrap of metal bound into place with scavenged steel cable.
(sighs heavily) well looks like we have a guess as to what happened to your party....this looks like marks of your energy weapons.....
<Vaxalon> The man just stands there, surveying the scene.
<Vaxalon> He looks around. "They must have... taken them somewhere."
looks around the area checking any trails left to figure out what happened
<Vaxalon> You find a trail of broken underbrush leading into the tangled wildland. It's pretty simple to follow... if you dare.
she checks some more , if the humans walked off, the track of those decon suit boots would be pretty distinctive
<Vaxalon> Just Troll footprints. There are some bloodstains, but not much.
<Vaxalon> Man Trolls are big enough to sling a human over his back and carry him with no more difficulty than you or I would a sack of potatoes.
<Vaxalon> *many
hmmm we could try to follow them and see but we might be better off getting a rescue party at oasis, (she looks up at the sun to guess how long before nightfall)
<Vaxalon> An hour or two. You'll have to hurry.
<Vaxalon> The child will make that difficult, though.
<Vaxalon> The child doesn't move quickly.
gets down low looking in the child's facemask and smiling 'come on Little Grub, don't you want to brag how you rode a big fierce mutant
<Vaxalon> (It will take a conflict to convince the man to let you carry the child. Let's go to OOC for a moment)
(reaches back and pats her shoulders)
<Vaxalon> "Look, I don't think..." the man starts, "I'd rather you didn't touch us, please." X'hara smiles. "You've got your suits on. I won't hurt you... I want that warm bath! Besides, it'll be a lot more dangerous to be caught outside at night. I can handle myself, but I can't guarantee being able to protect you."
<Vaxalon> "Alright," says the man. He turns to the child. "It'll be alright. I know she's strange, but... I want you to be brave, for me." He picks the child up. "Hang on tight now." He puts the child on your shoulders, between your pack and your neck. The child grabs your hair in gloved hands. You can feel the suit pressed close on the back of your head.
<Vaxalon> You hear a quiet whimper coming from the child.
she reaches up patting the boy in what she hope is a reassuring way, she begins to walk faster down the hightway I assume with the man in tow
<Vaxalon> The man is able to keep up, even in the suit. He's in remarkably good shape. You are able to boost the pace to what, for you, is a fast walk, and for him is a brisk jog, without any complaint from him.
<Vaxalon> After a few minutes you hear the child giggling.
<Vaxalon> You're not sure the child is a boy anymore... but it's hard to tell.
you see LIttle Grub? the big fierce mutant IS a fun ride Isn't she?
<Vaxalon> You manage to reach the first dome just as the sun is touching the horizon. In the long shadows, he helps the child down. He? She? says, "Noo! Ride some more. Ride the troll-lady some more."
she passes this playful banter while her practiced eyes flit from clump of
tree watching for an ambush
there are five domes in the oasis colony in the space between them are scatterd a cluster of Trollish tents and human vehicles, a mixed group of mutant and humans milling about, a familiar trade bazaar settng but odd, with the humans in the docon suits, and the varied forms the of the Trolls
say well here we are, Oasis......all I have to to is introduce you to the Dome factor and you are home free.....and see your friends again
weaves throught the mixed crowd up to a tent set against one of the domes, she enters a number of trolls lounge about and a large window of armorglass shows a small office with a number of purestrains
<Vaxalon> "Yes, right away," says Orlando. "We'll want to get someone to see about those men the Trolls captured. I won't leave them to... well, whatever fate awaits them can't be pleasant."
I have a feeling those trolls turned tail the minute your party begans shooting them up, we've long learned to avoid purestrain weapons...
<Vaxalon> "Well... we'll see. If that's true, there would have been a relief party at the crawler by now."
: walks up to the glass and raps on it "Holla Oasis purestrains, I travel with two f yours"
she reaches up and scoops the child off her head and sets him in front of the window patting him on the head...
<Vaxalon> The man behind the glass nods, and points to an airlock to one side. "Come on through, if you're willing. We know of your kind, and welcome you."
Points to herself, jaw dropping this going against everything she knows about the purestrain domes ".....ME? Inside........?"
<Vaxalon> "Yes. If you wish. You will need to be decontaminated, of course, but we know that your genes do not pose a threat to us."
<Vaxalon> "Send Captain Hoosier and the child through first, and then we'll bring you inside. If you wish."
she begins hemming and hawing a bit before the window....."well I';ve never actually been INSIDE, I mean I've wondered what it was like, wow.....uh.....so what is 'decontamination" like...."?
<Vaxalon> "Well... I can't say it's pleasant. We'll need to take your clothes, and clean you off, head to toe. We have to make sure you're not carrying the taint in on your body. We'll give you clean clothes to wear inside."
say Oh well I wanted a bath anyway, wow, to see "Iinside" alright I'll come with you.....
she pats the child on the head, "well Little Grub, looks like you aren't rid of me yet....
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier and the child disappear into the airlock first. A few minutes later, it opens again to admit you. This is clearly Old World technology, all clean and white and smooth.
she slides her backpack off and carries it wide-eyed into the lock, the big Trollbabe looking and feeling very small...
<Vaxalon> When X'hara enters, the doors close, and a small viewscreen crackles to life on the wall. "You'll need to leave your clothes, gear, everything in here. When that's done, the door will open and you can go into the shower." The viewscreen clicks off, leaving you in silence.
she drops her backpack and staff in a corner and quickly strips out of her clothes....
<Vaxalon> The next chamber is no larger than the first. It has a grate in the bottom, and nozzles pointing inwards from every direction. Once X'hara is inside, the nozzles burst forth with powerful blasts of hot water. It smells... funny. X'hara's hair is quickly drenched with the stuff, and every square inch of her body is doused. The shower only lasts a few seconds, though, and she is left dripping. The next door opens, leading into...
she shakes almost doglike her long hair spashing water in every direction and steps into the next room....
<Vaxalon> a slightly larger chamber. A wooden bench bears a set of clothes. You're not entirely sure how it goes together, so you just put on the parts that make sense...
<Vaxalon> Heavy denim pants, leather sandals, a big white cotton tshirt
<Vaxalon> There's also a warm towel to dry off with.
<Vaxalon> The clothes are worn, but in good shape.
she dries herself before putting on the clothes and looks about the room, waiting....
<Vaxalon> After she's dressed, the final door opens, leading into the Factor's office. Captain Orlando and the child are there. She turns out to be an absolutely darling, blonde-haired little girl of about six.
she looks about the rooms curious having never seen an actual office before, she nods to the Captain and smiles down to the little girl "see here I am Little Grub, all cleaned up, Not so fierce looking now eh"?
<Vaxalon> The factor comes over and holds out his hand, smiling. He's an older fellow, probably in his fifties, with a short white haircut and a craggy face. "Welcome, X'hara is it? Captain Hoosier has told me the story. I can't thank you enough for making sure that little Ellie came back unharmed."
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier seems to be having mixed feelings about X'hara being inside.
<Vaxalon> Ellie smiles and nods. "You're nice."
looks over at the man curiously unfamiliar with this custom and never having made physical contact with a purestrain, knowing how afraid they are of it...but she takes his hand awkwardly.....
<Vaxalon> He shakes her hand confidently... something you've never seen in a human before.
<Vaxalon> "I should explain..."
<Vaxalon> "You're a very special creature, X'hara. At the end of the Old World, when the world Outside was going crazy, it looked like humanity was doomed. The changes were threatening to make us all into beasts."
<Vaxalon> "Our scientists... wise men... were determined to find a way to protect us from the changes."
Yes I have heard all the stories, that is why you live in the domes and were the suits, this is the first time I have heard of any troll let inside a dome
<Vaxalon> "People like you were the result. Few were satisfied."
<Vaxalon> "You, X'hara, are not a Troll."
my village was a days walk from the purity dome, they wouldnt allow trolls within one kilometer....
<Vaxalon> "The taint has no lasting effect on you."
<Vaxalon> "Your body keeps... hm, how to put it..."
<Vaxalon> "It is as if there is, inside you, another copy of you, one that comes back to take control, if the taint tries to change you."
<Vaxalon> "It also makes you stronger, harder to kill. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself," he says with a smile.
<Vaxalon> "Are you hungry?"
she nods vigorously having no trouble understandin that, as she silently considered what she had heard....
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier interrupts. "Sir... please. The technicians. We should send a patrol to retrieve them."
<Vaxalon> The Factor closes his eyes. "I have already made my decision, Captain. Even if we were able to find them, by now the Trolls will have breached their suits, at the very least. We would not be able to bring them back inside."
<Vaxalon> "Now bring X'hara to the mess hall."
<Vaxalon> "Yes, sir."
<Vaxalon> He salutes, and sets his jaw. He indicates a doorway on the wall opposite the armorglass window.
she seems lost in thought, "I don't understand, why are there trolls so hostile this close when you deal with Trolls so often
enters the door looking curiously about 'Inside'
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier says, "I don't know. But this kind of thing happens from time to time."
<Vaxalon> "There's not much to be done about it, except to go out heavily armed."
Hmm most troll frankly have learned to respect your weapons, we avoided your groups even when traveling to Purity for market day, Troll living this close should know better by now...
<Vaxalon> He leads you down a long corridor, lit by skylights of armorglass overhead.
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier sighs. "Can you... can you go out and see if those men can be saved? I know it's a lot to ask..."
<Vaxalon> "But I can't stand... I can't stand just leaving them out there, with those... those..."
<Vaxalon> "Well..."
<Vaxalon> "We don't know what."
X'har grimaces inwardly, not wanting to tell the Ca;ptain just how valuable a source of protien those techs would be....
Sir do any of the Trolls you trade with know anything of that tribe?
<Vaxalon> The sky is ablaze with the orange light of sunset. The hallway is quickly filled with other humans, many of whom look at X'hara with concern, and stay well out of arm's reach, but at least one young man is curious and follows close behind.
<Vaxalon> "I don't know... I don't really speak with them much. I just hear rumors."
Looks surprise "all the trouble you've had, you never asked any of them"? I'm sure they must know something, maybey why they are still so hostile...
do you know if that tribe attacks other Trolls?
<Vaxalon> "Not my job... I'm Defense. That would be handled by Trade, or else maybe State." The young man following you pipes up. "Oah, so the soldiers DON'T know everything. Good to hear you admit it for once."
<Vaxalon> He smiles broadly, proud of his impudence. He seems to be about eighteen, just barely a man.
<Vaxalon> Either he hasn't fully filled out yet, or he's just skinny. They look so small without their suits.
looks back breifly at the young man and back over to the factor....."well if you don't talk to the Trolls you deal with, how do you know you aren't dealing with the hostile tribe?, I've heard of that happening.....
<Vaxalon> "*I* talk to them," says the skinny kid. (the Factor isn't with you... this is Captain Hoosier. The Factor stayed behind in the office.)
Looks over to the boy "oh really, and what do they say to you "?
<Vaxalon> "The trolls that are out there are exiles. Criminals... though exactly what their crime was, wasn't clear. Something to do with hunting. Anyways, they grab humans to turn them into Trolls. They take them, break open their suits, and drip blood into their wounds. The taint turns them into trolls within a week."
<Vaxalon> He says this with a grimacing smile of morbid fascination.
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier closes his eyes and turns away. "Achhh... please..."
Yes, they could certainly never come back into your domes again We must talk more to the Trolls we can, maybe they know more, maybe they can lead us right to them!
<Vaxalon> "Well, the dome will be closed for the night, now... but I'll be happy to introduce you to some of my friends in the morning."
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier finds a spot at the end of a long table. "I'll go up and get us some food,
alright ,but if you think any of your friends are alright it should be first thing in the morning.....
<Vaxalon> The kid says, "Oh, by the way... my names Disney. Olantu Disney. Don't go away!"
<Vaxalon> He runs up to get in line for some food.
<Vaxalon> X'hara is left alone for a few minutes.
alright she is alone, she peers nervously about the room and at the people milling about....
<Vaxalon> Most of them are avoiding her, some even trying to avoid looking at her.
<Vaxalon> Captain Hoosier and Olantu come back, Hoosier looking grim, and Olantu looking chipper.
<Vaxalon> Hoosier has a big tray for you, heaped with food. There's no meat... a bean and grain casserole of some kind, potatoes, vegetables.
Session Close: Tue Aug 03 22:57:11 2004

Hi,

Need to re-format this so the other player's name comes out--I'm holding off trying to wade through it until that's clear.

I personally am interested in seeing these logs. I suspect there's some data available in actual word-by-word no-human-presence logs of games that's missing from write-ups and transcripts--and would even be hard to dissect from video tape.

-Marco

This is very interesting, but I, too, cannot make heads or tails of it without it being seperated by poster. Can you do that?

It reminds me of the Japanese "Replay":
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=8542&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

-Andy

Whaha? How did THAT happen???

Let's try this again...


Session Start: Tue Aug 03 20:41:52 2004
Session Ident: #Trollbabe
* Logging #Trollbabe to 'logs\#Trollbabe.MagicStar.log'
**Vaxalon** X'hara is on her way to Oasis, a cluster of human domes. For the time being, her path runs along an ancient highway. It makes a good way to travel because the pavement keeps the foliage from getting too dense.
**Bryan** okay she walks along the cracked pavement whistling to herself....
**Vaxalon** On either side, the dense jungle of the wildlands dominates. In the Old World, it is said, it would be green, nothing but green, but to you it is a riot of color. Red, purple, green, blue, bright and dark, pure and muddy, running one into the other like a painter's pallette that has been trampled.
**Bryan** she continues to follow the highway....
**Vaxalon** She sees, up ahead, the telltale dark area of yet another collapsed overpass. They are simple enough to walk around, but they are common places for dangerous beasts to lair, or for ambushes.
**Bryan** she grips her staff tigthly as her whistling dies away and she skirts the edge of collapsed heap
**Vaxalon** As she skirts the pile of collapsed concrete and twisted metal, coming down what once was an onramp, X'hara sees that there is some kind of vehicle stopped near the rubble. It has the heavy, crude look of recent human construction, rather than an artifact of the Old World. It appears to have suffered some sort of breakdown, because some of its exterior access panels have been carefully removed. There's no sign of a tech, though...
**Vaxalon** no tools scattered around, no spare parts.
**Vaxalon** It's quiet.
**Bryan** she approaches the vehicle carefully listening for any sound, It may have something she can trade with the city up ahead so she approaches carefully
**Vaxalon** A human voice, a man's, comes from inside the machine. "You there! Stop where you are. I'm armed, I'll burn you down where you stand."
**Vaxalon** The vehicle is about the size of two large SUV's side by side. It has a dirty smokestack sticking up out of the top, and its iron plates have several viewports and gunports.
**Bryan** she steps back having experience with how dangerous the purestrain weapons can be "I will not harm you, I am travelling to the city of Oasis, are you alright"/
**Bryan** do you want me to tell them about you when I get there? maybe they can help you
**Vaxalon** There's a pause from inside the vehicle. "You're on your way to Oasis?"
**Bryan** yes are you too?
**Vaxalon** "Taint!" He says it like a curse. "I was hoping you were coming the other way. Look... we need some help. If you help us get to Oasis, I'll make sure you get a good reward for it."
**Vaxalon** "Decent clothes, food, a bath."
**Vaxalon** A hatch unscrews creakily, and clanks open.
**Bryan** we can help each other since we both travel there.....you will have to walk with me if your vehicle doesn't work....
**Vaxalon** The man clambers out. He's dressed in the standard protective gear that humans always seem to wear when outside their protected homes... heavy suit, helmet with air filters, gloves and boots.
**Bryan** you best take what you can, scavengers will strip it pretty quck if you leave it alone....
**Vaxalon** He's got an insignia painted on the shoulder, that looks like a dull green circle with a white square in the middle. "There's not much left that we can carry."
**Vaxalon** He assists another person out... about half his size. A child, most likely.
**Vaxalon** The child is silent. The body language speaks volumes of fear, though.
**Bryan** X;hara nods to herself inwardly ,all are protective of their young, but the purestrains doubly so.....
**Vaxalon** The man holds the child's hand to assist climbing down from the vehicle's hull. He's got a satchel over his shoulder.
**Bryan** alright then we best hurry if we want to make oasis before night......
**Vaxalon** "We've got some food, and a few other things... but most of the gear was taken by the techs when they went back for help."
**Vaxalon** "They should have been back this morning."
**Vaxalon** The child hides behind the man's legs.
**Bryan** Oasis is that way (points) is that where they headed?
**Vaxalon** "Yes."
**Bryan** I would think they would have made it by now......still as I said we best start, maybe we'll meet them on the way back
**Vaxalon** The man takes a good look at you through the flat glass lenses of his mask. "You're... you're not human." He starts walking.
**Vaxalon** He tries to stay back a bit from you, letting you go first, staying where he can see you.
**Bryan** she peers mockingly into the lenses like peephole "are only puresrains human"?
**Bryan** she laughs "don't worry at least I have only 2 arms and legs"
**Vaxalon** He seems a bit cheered by that. "Not /entirely/ human, I should say."
**Bryan** she winks back at him over her shoulder "but only one head, handicapped you know".....
**Vaxalon** He quickens his step a bit to keep up with you. The child hustles to stay close to the man.
**Vaxalon** The man says, "My name's Hoosier. Captain Orlando Hoosier."
**Bryan** Hah! back at the village they called me 'their'....
**Bryan** human
**Bryan** but I am name X''hara of Geneline Abb447G
**Vaxalon** "Oh... Oh! I had... I never expected to meet one of you... uh, people."
**Bryan** Oh why not? we 'people' are most of what's left.......
**Vaxalon** He shrugs.
**Bryan** she looks curiously back at the kid,....
**Vaxalon** After about three hours of hiking, rather slowly for the benefit of the child, you come upon the remains of a battle. There are many scorchmarks on the ground, and several broken or burned spears. There are no bodies, however.
**Bryan** that is one of your lavae? I thought you never brought them out of the domes....
**Vaxalon** "Not larvae... children. And no, we don't, usually."
**Bryan** picks up one of the spears looking them over....does this look like mutant workmanship?
**Vaxalon** It's definitely Troll work. It's heavy, and has a tip made of a scrap of metal bound into place with scavenged steel cable.
**Bryan** (sighs heavily) well looks like we have a guess as to what happened to your party....this looks like marks of your energy weapons.....
**Vaxalon** The man just stands there, surveying the scene.
**Vaxalon** He looks around. "They must have... taken them somewhere."
**Bryan** looks around the area checking any trails left to figure out what happened
**Vaxalon** You find a trail of broken underbrush leading into the tangled wildland. It's pretty simple to follow... if you dare.
**Bryan** she checks some more , if the humans walked off, the track of those decon suit boots would be pretty distinctive
**Vaxalon** Just Troll footprints. There are some bloodstains, but not much.
**Vaxalon** Man Trolls are big enough to sling a human over his back and carry him with no more difficulty than you or I would a sack of potatoes.
**Vaxalon** *many
**Bryan** hmmm we could try to follow them and see but we might be better off getting a rescue party at oasis, (she looks up at the sun to guess how long before nightfall)
**Vaxalon** An hour or two. You'll have to hurry.
**Vaxalon** The child will make that difficult, though.
**Vaxalon** The child doesn't move quickly.
**Bryan** gets down low looking in the child's facemask and smiling 'come on Little Grub, don't you want to brag how you rode a big fierce mutant
**Vaxalon** (It will take a conflict to convince the man to let you carry the child. Let's go to OOC for a moment)
**Bryan** (reaches back and pats her shoulders)
**Vaxalon** "Look, I don't think..." the man starts, "I'd rather you didn't touch us, please." X'hara smiles. "You've got your suits on. I won't hurt you... I want that warm bath! Besides, it'll be a lot more dangerous to be caught outside at night. I can handle myself, but I can't guarantee being able to protect you."
**Vaxalon** "Alright," says the man. He turns to the child. "It'll be alright. I know she's strange, but... I want you to be brave, for me." He picks the child up. "Hang on tight now." He puts the child on your shoulders, between your pack and your neck. The child grabs your hair in gloved hands. You can feel the suit pressed close on the back of your head.
**Vaxalon** You hear a quiet whimper coming from the child.
**Bryan** she reaches up patting the boy in what she hope is a reassuring way, she begins to walk faster down the hightway I assume with the man in tow
**Vaxalon** The man is able to keep up, even in the suit. He's in remarkably good shape. You are able to boost the pace to what, for you, is a fast walk, and for him is a brisk jog, without any complaint from him.
**Vaxalon** After a few minutes you hear the child giggling.
**Vaxalon** You're not sure the child is a boy anymore... but it's hard to tell.
**Bryan** you see LIttle Grub? the big fierce mutant IS a fun ride Isn't she?
**Vaxalon** You manage to reach the first dome just as the sun is touching the horizon. In the long shadows, he helps the child down. He? She? says, "Noo! Ride some more. Ride the troll-lady some more."
**Bryan** she passes this playful banter while her practiced eyes flit from clump of
**Bryan** tree watching for an ambush
**Bryan** there are five domes in the oasis colony in the space between them are scatterd a cluster of Trollish tents and human vehicles, a mixed group of mutant and humans milling about, a familiar trade bazaar settng but odd, with the humans in the docon suits, and the varied forms the of the Trolls
**Bryan** say well here we are, Oasis......all I have to to is introduce you to the Dome factor and you are home free.....and see your friends again
**Bryan** weaves throught the mixed crowd up to a tent set against one of the domes, she enters a number of trolls lounge about and a large window of armorglass shows a small office with a number of purestrains
**Vaxalon** "Yes, right away," says Orlando. "We'll want to get someone to see about those men the Trolls captured. I won't leave them to... well, whatever fate awaits them can't be pleasant."
**Bryan** I have a feeling those trolls turned tail the minute your party begans shooting them up, we've long learned to avoid purestrain weapons...
**Vaxalon** "Well... we'll see. If that's true, there would have been a relief party at the crawler by now."
**Bryan** : walks up to the glass and raps on it "Holla Oasis purestrains, I travel with two f yours"
**Bryan** she reaches up and scoops the child off her head and sets him in front of the window patting him on the head...
**Vaxalon** The man behind the glass nods, and points to an airlock to one side. "Come on through, if you're willing. We know of your kind, and welcome you."
**Bryan** Points to herself, jaw dropping this going against everything she knows about the purestrain domes ".....ME? Inside........?"
**Vaxalon** "Yes. If you wish. You will need to be decontaminated, of course, but we know that your genes do not pose a threat to us."
**Vaxalon** "Send Captain Hoosier and the child through first, and then we'll bring you inside. If you wish."
**Bryan** she begins hemming and hawing a bit before the window....."well I';ve never actually been INSIDE, I mean I've wondered what it was like, wow.....uh.....so what is 'decontamination" like...."?
**Vaxalon** "Well... I can't say it's pleasant. We'll need to take your clothes, and clean you off, head to toe. We have to make sure you're not carrying the taint in on your body. We'll give you clean clothes to wear inside."
**Bryan** say Oh well I wanted a bath anyway, wow, to see "Iinside" alright I'll come with you.....
**Bryan** she pats the child on the head, "well Little Grub, looks like you aren't rid of me yet....
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier and the child disappear into the airlock first. A few minutes later, it opens again to admit you. This is clearly Old World technology, all clean and white and smooth.
**Bryan** she slides her backpack off and carries it wide-eyed into the lock, the big Trollbabe looking and feeling very small...
**Vaxalon** When X'hara enters, the doors close, and a small viewscreen crackles to life on the wall. "You'll need to leave your clothes, gear, everything in here. When that's done, the door will open and you can go into the shower." The viewscreen clicks off, leaving you in silence.
**Bryan** she drops her backpack and staff in a corner and quickly strips out of her clothes....
**Vaxalon** The next chamber is no larger than the first. It has a grate in the bottom, and nozzles pointing inwards from every direction. Once X'hara is inside, the nozzles burst forth with powerful blasts of hot water. It smells... funny. X'hara's hair is quickly drenched with the stuff, and every square inch of her body is doused. The shower only lasts a few seconds, though, and she is left dripping. The next door opens, leading into...
**Bryan** she shakes almost doglike her long hair spashing water in every direction and steps into the next room....
**Vaxalon** a slightly larger chamber. A wooden bench bears a set of clothes. You're not entirely sure how it goes together, so you just put on the parts that make sense...
**Vaxalon** Heavy denim pants, leather sandals, a big white cotton tshirt
**Vaxalon** There's also a warm towel to dry off with.
**Vaxalon** The clothes are worn, but in good shape.
**Bryan** she dries herself before putting on the clothes and looks about the room, waiting....
**Vaxalon** After she's dressed, the final door opens, leading into the Factor's office. Captain Orlando and the child are there. She turns out to be an absolutely darling, blonde-haired little girl of about six.
**Bryan** she looks about the rooms curious having never seen an actual office before, she nods to the Captain and smiles down to the little girl "see here I am Little Grub, all cleaned up, Not so fierce looking now eh"?
**Vaxalon** The factor comes over and holds out his hand, smiling. He's an older fellow, probably in his fifties, with a short white haircut and a craggy face. "Welcome, X'hara is it? Captain Hoosier has told me the story. I can't thank you enough for making sure that little Ellie came back unharmed."
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier seems to be having mixed feelings about X'hara being inside.
**Vaxalon** Ellie smiles and nods. "You're nice."
**Bryan** looks over at the man curiously unfamiliar with this custom and never having made physical contact with a purestrain, knowing how afraid they are of it...but she takes his hand awkwardly.....
**Vaxalon** He shakes her hand confidently... something you've never seen in a human before.
**Vaxalon** "I should explain..."
**Vaxalon** "You're a very special creature, X'hara. At the end of the Old World, when the world Outside was going crazy, it looked like humanity was doomed. The changes were threatening to make us all into beasts."
**Vaxalon** "Our scientists... wise men... were determined to find a way to protect us from the changes."
**Bryan** Yes I have heard all the stories, that is why you live in the domes and were the suits, this is the first time I have heard of any troll let inside a dome
**Vaxalon** "People like you were the result. Few were satisfied."
**Vaxalon** "You, X'hara, are not a Troll."
**Bryan** my village was a days walk from the purity dome, they wouldnt allow trolls within one kilometer....
**Vaxalon** "The taint has no lasting effect on you."
**Vaxalon** "Your body keeps... hm, how to put it..."
**Vaxalon** "It is as if there is, inside you, another copy of you, one that comes back to take control, if the taint tries to change you."
**Vaxalon** "It also makes you stronger, harder to kill. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself," he says with a smile.
**Vaxalon** "Are you hungry?"
**Bryan** she nods vigorously having no trouble understandin that, as she silently considered what she had heard....
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier interrupts. "Sir... please. The technicians. We should send a patrol to retrieve them."
**Vaxalon** The Factor closes his eyes. "I have already made my decision, Captain. Even if we were able to find them, by now the Trolls will have breached their suits, at the very least. We would not be able to bring them back inside."
**Vaxalon** "Now bring X'hara to the mess hall."
**Vaxalon** "Yes, sir."
**Vaxalon** He salutes, and sets his jaw. He indicates a doorway on the wall opposite the armorglass window.
**Bryan** she seems lost in thought, "I don't understand, why are there trolls so hostile this close when you deal with Trolls so often
**Bryan** enters the door looking curiously about 'Inside'
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier says, "I don't know. But this kind of thing happens from time to time."
**Vaxalon** "There's not much to be done about it, except to go out heavily armed."
**Bryan** Hmm most troll frankly have learned to respect your weapons, we avoided your groups even when traveling to Purity for market day, Troll living this close should know better by now...
**Vaxalon** He leads you down a long corridor, lit by skylights of armorglass overhead.
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier sighs. "Can you... can you go out and see if those men can be saved? I know it's a lot to ask..."
**Vaxalon** "But I can't stand... I can't stand just leaving them out there, with those... those..."
**Vaxalon** "Well..."
**Vaxalon** "We don't know what."
**Bryan** X'har grimaces inwardly, not wanting to tell the Ca;ptain just how valuable a source of protien those techs would be....
**Bryan** Sir do any of the Trolls you trade with know anything of that tribe?
**Vaxalon** The sky is ablaze with the orange light of sunset. The hallway is quickly filled with other humans, many of whom look at X'hara with concern, and stay well out of arm's reach, but at least one young man is curious and follows close behind.
**Vaxalon** "I don't know... I don't really speak with them much. I just hear rumors."
**Bryan** Looks surprise "all the trouble you've had, you never asked any of them"? I'm sure they must know something, maybey why they are still so hostile...
**Bryan** do you know if that tribe attacks other Trolls?
**Vaxalon** "Not my job... I'm Defense. That would be handled by Trade, or else maybe State." The young man following you pipes up. "Oah, so the soldiers DON'T know everything. Good to hear you admit it for once."
**Vaxalon** He smiles broadly, proud of his impudence. He seems to be about eighteen, just barely a man.
**Vaxalon** Either he hasn't fully filled out yet, or he's just skinny. They look so small without their suits.
**Bryan** looks back breifly at the young man and back over to the factor....."well if you don't talk to the Trolls you deal with, how do you know you aren't dealing with the hostile tribe?, I've heard of that happening.....
**Vaxalon** "*I* talk to them," says the skinny kid. (the Factor isn't with you... this is Captain Hoosier. The Factor stayed behind in the office.)
**Bryan** Looks over to the boy "oh really, and what do they say to you "?
**Vaxalon** "The trolls that are out there are exiles. Criminals... though exactly what their crime was, wasn't clear. Something to do with hunting. Anyways, they grab humans to turn them into Trolls. They take them, break open their suits, and drip blood into their wounds. The taint turns them into trolls within a week."
**Vaxalon** He says this with a grimacing smile of morbid fascination.
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier closes his eyes and turns away. "Achhh... please..."
**Bryan** Yes, they could certainly never come back into your domes again We must talk more to the Trolls we can, maybe they know more, maybe they can lead us right to them!
**Vaxalon** "Well, the dome will be closed for the night, now... but I'll be happy to introduce you to some of my friends in the morning."
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier finds a spot at the end of a long table. "I'll go up and get us some food,
**Bryan** alright ,but if you think any of your friends are alright it should be first thing in the morning.....
**Vaxalon** The kid says, "Oh, by the way... my names Disney. Olantu Disney. Don't go away!"
**Vaxalon** He runs up to get in line for some food.
**Vaxalon** X'hara is left alone for a few minutes.
**Vaxalon** (still there?)
**Bryan** yes
**Bryan** alright she is alone, she peers nervously about the room and at the people milling about....
**Vaxalon** Most of them are avoiding her, some even trying to avoid looking at her.
**Vaxalon** Captain Hoosier and Olantu come back, Hoosier looking grim, and Olantu looking chipper.
**Vaxalon** Hoosier has a big tray for you, heaped with food. There's no meat... a bean and grain casserole of some kind, potatoes, vegetables.
Session Close: Tue Aug 03 22:57:11 2004

Hi Fred,

Now that it's a little easier to read, I gotta ask you to post about your actual play, not merely present the transcript. How was it? What do you think about it? What were your expectations, and how were they met or not met?

Or anything like that at all. Transcripts by themselves aren't a basis for discussion, although they are a good starting point for it.

Best,
Ron

I'm not sure that the answers to those questions are really going to engender any more discussion than the transcript will, but sure, here you go:

I enjoyed this game a great deal. For one thing, it required less preparation than any other game I have ever run as GM; three pages of notes, and that's with lots of empty space. To me that's a big advantage for IRC games where your investment can be very high for very little payoff, sometimes.

My expectations were high, and they were met. I felt comfortable with the mechanics, though we didn't explore them very far.

I was very much looking forward to playing a game where the stance shifted more into director. I haven't played that kind of game before, except Pantheon, which isn't really the same.

How did the Conflicts go? Any unexpected twists?

Did you have failure situations that led to Rerolls?

Were there Relationships taken by the Players, and did they become important in the game?

There was only one conflict, and that was convincing the man to allow the trollbabe to carry the child.

It was a success, so no rerolls.

X'hara took the child as a relationship.