Terra Chars & Campaign Log - CLOSED

[Zyraen]

Feel free to post your Characters here Try to use the following format.
You do NOT have to wait until you finish building your 4E Character Sheet to post up here.

NAME (PLAYER'S NAME)
Race, Class, Multiclass (if any)
Age (in human years):
Height:
Occupation:
Morality: (max/default 7, min 5)
Vice:
Virtue:
Appearance (aka Description)
Background
Tidbits (optional) - Interesting stuff you think that makes your character unique. you can put them here if your background is long, to highlight the key points

NOTE: If you have very personal/secretive things that you do NOT want other players to know, do NOT post here, but do let the GM know.

eg.
DARREN SHIN (Darren)
Half-Elf Ranger, Multiclass Fighter
Age: 23
Height: 180 cm
Occupation: Park Ranger, part time Store Clerk at "Oriental Arms" Shop
Morality: 6
Vice: Sloth
Virtue: Justice
Appearance: Darren is a fairly tall man with brownish tanned skin and a lean musculature. He usually wears dark jeans with a black jacket with a hoodie when he is in the city. He tries to hide his half-elf ears under his hair, even though the girls say he is cute.

Background
(insert long background)

Tidbits: Darren is actually an illegal immigrant in his country of residence.
Darren likes samurai swords, and watching ninja movies. He is proficient with Archaic Ranged Weapons (and not Military Firearms)
In high school, he once played a prank with a friend he intended to teach a lesson. They were to sneak into a neighbour's house to wreak some havoc, but he intentionally left out that the neighbour had a fierce guard dog. The incident resulted in his friend getting mauled to death. The doberman was later put down, of course. Darren never stopped blaming himself for that, but never could bring himself to confess his involvement (hence Morality 6)

Have fun!

[emaximusax]

Maximus Ax (MAXIMUS)
Bard/Warlock
Race Human/Half Elf
Age 21
Height 1.85 M
Occupation Trade Route Manager
Morality: 6 OR 7
Vice: Greed (for Recognition) OR Pride (Deciding)
Virtue: Prudence
Appearance: Maximus normally wear his shoulder length, jet black hair naturally. That is, flowing straight down. Enigma, on the other hand, would take time to spike up his hair to form what he would call, the hero hair (Dragon Ball style). His eyes is silver-grey (or Hellfire-red contact with neutral contact lens). He often bragged he was tall, dark and handsome... for he was tall, compared to many of his peers, tan skin from his ours of outdoor work, and handsome, well, he considered himself to be. A neutral party might nickname Maximus as 'Mr Average who is tall'.

Maximus common attire around town was a dust-coloured long duster (cloth), white or blue shirt, jeans, a pair of cowhide shoes, a pen in his pocket and a notebook (not the computer) in his hand.
At least one gun was always hidden inside his duster, although it was kept there more for protocol than for any practical use.

Background:
In the cyber-world, Enigma was a growing star, hitting his millionth viewer for his third music-video. In this time and age, it would be rare, if not impossible, for any harpist-singer to gain such fame, but he did it. His voice, his harp, his shimmering cloak brought him to fame.

In the real world, there was a medium size town that stands at the edge of a forest. Wild creatures and bandits frequent this town. Fortunately, traders of many cities frequent this town as well, for the forest grew plants that could not grow anywhere. The traders supplied the town with mercenaries and supplies to keep the animals and bandits away.

Maximus, son of Ax, a warlock, was born into this town 21 years ago. In his early years, his father, secretly as warlock, had trained him in the many mystery of the arcane, while his mother had taught him the bardic arts. His training in the either arts were never complete, however. During the final years of Elementary school, forest bandits attacked town and killed both his parents.

In High School, due to his small size and being an orphan, he was bullied by nearly every known faction. The jocks pushed him around, while most of the others treated him like some sort of a slave. Only the nerds accepted him, even though his result was, borderline, at best. All this changed when he entered his second year. His time with the nerds had improved him results from being a borderline case to one of the best students in school. He had also learned to hack during those time, learning the many hidden secrets of his bullies. As he matured, his mother's training (the non-musical side) started to make more sense. He was able to 'talk' people into doing his will through sweet talking or through bluffs. Combined those with the fact he had a sudden growth spurt to becoming one of the tallest people in High School, he was suddenly everyone's favourite person.

College was a trying time for Maximus, for most of the topics were about weapons and tactics. He scored well in tactics and was often known as a natural leader. He almost always lead his team to safety and no problems was too difficult to resolve. During war games, however, the school found him lacking. He was known as the person that had a high possibility to miss point blank and his punch was about as strong as a child. Only his tactical ability and other subjects pulled him to his final college year, which he was doomed to fail.

The gods had other plans, it seemed. During his final year, the combined force of eight bandits gangs attacked, and within minutes, overwhelmed the paid mercenaries. Maximus and his fellow school mates were called into duty. Everyone knew it was doomed, for what could a bunch of students do, when trained mercenaries failed. They understood it was a last ditch attempt to buy time for other town folks to escape. The students understood as well as they armed themselves.

Maximus was grinning at his third secret online music video hitting 1,000,001 view when the alarms rang. Secret? Maximus had always kept his musical talent as secret from his peers before this, but as the alarm rang, he ran towards his college, still carrying his harp and his performance cloak, a legacy from his father. He barely reached the school when the second alarm rang and his school mates marched towards the gates. Maximus quickly followed. This last ditch defence was almost overwhelm in the first ten seconds of battle, leaving Maximus was the last man standing in his unit. His mind suddenly opened at that moment and understood his father's training. He fought, cursed, his eyes gleamed, and he ran about. As he fought, he began to understand that his mother's training and that of his father's was quite complementary. He convinced/conned several bandits that the others were going to betray them, intimidated others into fleeing and his father's warlock spell caused many to fall with no apparent reason. Odd still, those he proclaimed a curse often said that he would disappear every once in a while. The bandits were in a full retreat by the time reinforcement had arrived. On that very day, Maximus was declared a town hero (one of the many) and a full graduate of the college.

In the present, three years after he was declared as one of the town's many heroes, Maximus was getting used to his life as a secret musician in the internet and the town's Trade Route Manager. His life was made, or so he thought. Destiny always called unexpectedly.

Tidbits:
Maximus has a sharp mind and a sharp tongue, but he is one of the dullest shooter in the world. That is one reason why he had prefered the shotgun. There was no real skill involve, just shoot and forget. Then again, guns, to him, was nothing more than a scare tactic. Wave a gun and most people would run. If not, well, he had other skills that did not require any guns.
Maximus has an online persona known as Enigma. He had styled himself differently as Enigma and even the normal speech is different. Enigma spoke with plenty of thees, thous and thys.

The Town
The town Maximus was born in was known as <name withheld for legal reasons... >. The town was built near a natural forest which supplied several kind of rare plants that refuses to grow anywhere, even in high-tech artificial stations. Due to those plants, the government had banned all high-tech vehicles 15 miles radius of the town and the forest and any sort of non-military factories were also forbidden. The town was very dependant on trade-caravans, horse drawn carriage and other ancient means of transport. Saying thus, the town was not ancient looking. Computers and electric lights were seen everywhere, powered by the many solar panels seen on every roof. A factory was built in the middle of this town, an odd factory filled with stationary bicycles, all connected to a power generator.

The majority citizens of the town are humans and half elves. Only a small 5% of the citizenship belongs to the other races combined. When looking at the town population, it was a different story. Combining every citizen, mercenary, traders and bandits around this protected zone, the pie chart of the various world races are quite equal, with humans taking 1% higher than the average.

The country government of this town did not really care of its internal policy and strife, thus never did send any serious troops to aid the town. They cared only when non of the plants were exported out of the town.

The town was ruled by 5 ministry. From the most important: Trade (lifeblood), Military (For town guards and mercenaries), Forestry (For rangers, planters and harvesters), Administration (Local police and other service departments) and Development (Essentially a joke. Their most important job was to hold festivals and to assign homes to people).


~~~ Keep in view for now ~~~

[vesth]

Name: Maximilian The Wonderful
Race: Eladrin
Class: Wizard
Age:
23
Height:
1.78M
Occupation:
Magician
Morality: 7
Vice:
Pride (Arrogance) 
Virtue:
 Charity
Appearance: A lean man with elaborately styled black hair and piercing blue eyes, Maximilian often wears black tie, going with a black suit, white dress shirt and evening waistcoat, occasionally bringing along a top hat for his performances. He keeps with him a black ebony wand, which looks like something straight out of Harry Potter. 

Background: 

"Magic's more than a twirl of fingers or the sleight-of-hand. It's something more than you can comprehend. And that's magic in and of itself."

When Max first watched his first street performance at age 6, he was enthralled. Enthralled at the sparks, the flames, the coin that disappears and raining cards from the sky. Enthralled by the Oos and Aahs and the glassy eyed stares of the equally fascinated audience. Enthralled by the confidence and charisma, the sense of mystery that came from the magician who performed the tricks. Max became more than just hooked. He became obsessed. 

He prodded the internet, the library, every resource he could get his hands on for magic tricks. He learned a few, he practiced and mastered as many as he could get his hands on. But it never felt enough. It was always not enough. In time, he went to look for a master, an accomplished magician he could apprentice himself to.

One particular magician, a mentalist going by the moniker of Mindstorm, became interested in this eladrin named Max. An eladrin, who by all accounts, begged many magicians but never seemed satisfied with any of them. An eladrin with such a profound love for magic but hated how limited it seemed. An eladrin that very much reminded Mindstorm of himself a long, long time ago. After an interview and a series of small trials and tests, Mindstorm accepted Max as his apprentice. And he taught Max more than any other magician might. He taught him real magic.

Max learned quickly and learned well, and they quickly became a rather famous duo that traveled from town to town and performed and fascinated people everywhere. It was a fine two years, where Max changed to Maximilian, and he learned much from Mindstorm, who grew to love him as a son. Then, one day, something terrible happened.

After an enchanting performance in a city, the two of them were having a drink in a bar to celebrate the success of yet another successful show when the door burst in and more than a dozen armed men with knives and sticks rushed in. Apparently, they could tell that that was real magic, and they absolutely feared and hated it. They felt it was unnatural and the people who used it were unnatural and shouldn't be allowed to live. A fierce fight resulted, and though they managed to defeat all of them, Mindstorm was killed in the process. Maximilian fled, fearing that there were more of these people about.

Maximilian was devastated, and the pain lingered with him for half a year or so before he could finally put it aside. But life had to go on, and Maximilian's dreams along with it. That, and his pride wouldn't allow him to stand down. He would live by his master's code, and practice his master's magic. He would be his master's legacy, zealots be damned. And he wouldn't let anyone stand in his way.

Tidbits: Nobody holds on to spell books anymore, and Maximilian is no different. Instead, all the spells he knows is stored digitally onto his laptop, hidden behind passwords and various folders. There were apparently many spells in there, left by Mindstorm, but somehow, no matter how hard he tried, his eyes simply gazed over the words of many of them. Apparently, Mindstorm had this same problem left by his predecessor, and it seemed like you could only decipher them if you became more magically adept.

[Zyraen]

Log for Terra Campaign

Take note that XP is never tracked for the number of enemies you kill or otherwise defeat.
The XP for 1 Arc is generally 1 Level (but this may vary).
The number of Sessions to complete that Arc is treated as the XP value per Session. When you have attended enough Sessions to match that number, you gain a level.
When you cannot come for a Session, you gain Half-Session.
Half-Sessions are always rounded down, and you do NOT gain your new Level until you have attended at least 1 Session.

Reading XP
eg. Maderon (Bernard) : 2 / 4 XP 6
The first name is your Character Name. The name in brackets is your Player Name.
So Bernard is the player RPing the Character Maderon.
The number AFTER the XP is your Level. In this case, Maderon is currently Level 6 Character.
2 is the number of Sessions that counts towards gaining his next Level, and 4 is the number of Sessions he needs to accumulate to hit the next Level (ie Level 7). So he has another 2 more Sessions to accumulate.

When you gain a Level, your Character's Name will be preceded by a "Level Up!" Note in bold and red.
eg. Level Up! - Maderon (Bernard) : 0 / X XP 7
Note that, as per above, the number required to gain the next Level may be unknown, and replaced by an X.
X means that the current unfinished Arc results in a Level Gain.
Since the Arc is still unfinished, the value of X is not yet known.

Examples
Assume it takes 4 Sessions for the Arc 1 (Level 4) to complete and for players to reach Level 5.
Also assume Arc 2 is not yet complete, so the XP to reach Level 6 is still indicated by an "X"

- Robert plays the character Razmatazz, and attends all 4 Sessions of Arc 1. At the end of Arc 1, and when he has 4 / 4 XP 4, he gains a Level and becomes. eg, Level Up! - Razmatazz (Robert) : 0 / X XP 5.
- Dave came for 2 Sessions and missed 2 Sessions. At the end of Arc 1, he has 3 / 4 XP 4, and needs one more Session to hit Level 5.
- Edward came for 3 Sessions in Arc 1, and missed the last 2 Sessions (4th Session of Arc 1, and 1st Session of Arc 2). Though he has 4 / 4 XP 4 before 2nd Session of Arc 2, he is still Level 4, and not yet 5. He only advances to Level 5 until he has completed the 2nd Session of Arc 2, whereupon he becomes 1 / X XP 5
- Note that in general, Characters will not fall more than 2 Levels behind.

===========

Campaign Log

For the Good of Humanity - Arc Lv 4
Log Page 1
1.1 Of White Mice and Men - Party Lv 4

[Zyraen]

1.1 Of White Mice and Men
15-Feb-14 (Saturday)

Most of the characters - Asgrim the Berserker, Doc Holiday the Cleric/Sentinel, Maximus the Bard/Warlock- find themselves kidnapped as involuntary study subjects by an unknown organization. On the premise of conducting "research" to further the advancement of humanity*, they are subject to medical examination and also repeatedly cross questioned about the source and extent of their abilities. After a week or so, they are individually told that they would be subject to a series of challenges, designed to showcase the extent of their abilities. Only one who gets through to the end of the challenges would be freed, the rest shall remain behind for more "tests".
Meantime, some of the guards of the research institute have learnt that it involves fellow human beings*, sometimes being subject to very perilous situations. While that would be cause for upset, nonetheless it pays well. However, at least one of them - Elka the Rogue - finds out that strangely, few of the security personnel managed to complete serving their tenor, and that they are often sent into these Challenges against the test subjects. Realizing that asking for a transfer was as good as asking to be shoved into the Challenges, she decides to break out some of the Test subjects and work with them to escape.

* - in Terra, all the mainstream (ie playable) races are collectively referred to as humanity / human beings.

The first challenge had Asgrim face off against a Fighter, while Maximus faced another Warlock. All of them have an explosive device rigged to their waists, and one pin-like key each, but two keys are needed to unlock the device and set it on the ground. Both Asgrim and Maximus managed to strike first and very hard, instantly bloodying both their enemies, and consequently intimidating them into surrendering their keys. After being freed from the device on him, Asgrim tried to heal the injured fighter so that he would survive the explosion, and indeed he did, though he was knocked unconscious after that. Maximus considered trying to lockpick his device to withdraw both keys after it was freed, but wasn't sure of success. He passed his device to the other Warlock who took his chances out of desperation, and somehow succeeded in extracting both pins, freeing himself of his bomb as well.
Doc Holiday's first challenge had him set upon by 3 ravenous beasts. He quickly realized that they were all very hungry, and would set upon the target deemed easiest to kill. By bloodying one of them, the other two attacked the injured animal. Though he tried to pacify and discourage them from killing each other, they killed the injured beast and ate it, although from his efforts they could sense he was not of killing intent, and thus sated, ceased attacking.
Outside, Elka lockpicked her way into one of the coordinating rooms, where a researcher accompanied by a guard watched the challenges via cameras. Her brutal strike severed the guard's head from his neck, causing the unarmed researcher to collapse in fright pleading for his life, only to have it ended by a thrust through his chest. She then started to gain access to the system to see which exit in the next challenge she could most likely hack open, and also which of the Challengers she would want to free next. Since all three seemed distinctly agreeable to work with, she decided to move Asgrim and Maximus to where she could break them out.
In the aftermath of the first challenge, all the Challengers could see what each other had done during their first challenge and decide who they wished to pair with.

The second challenge had Asgrim and Maximus paired against two Rogues, with 4 control panels to lockpick open 2 doors so they could leave. However, they were briefed that the last door would only take in 2 persons, before sliding shut. Handgun shots from the two swift-acting Rogues firing from behind crates almost knocked Maximus out before either of them could act, but Asgrim charged to engage one while Maximus seared the other's mind so that he couldn't see him. The Rogues then moved to flank Asgrim using their skill with short swords to interrupt his attacks, and things looked grim, but Asgrim used all his focus and concentration to suddenly bring down one Rogue, killing him with a breath attack. Maximus then persuaded the remaining Rogue to help them with the panels and they would carry him out so all 3 could move forward. However, as they were reaching the 1st of the 2 doors, they saw the floor panels were weight sensitive and the door was likely triggered to slam shut with too much weight on it. Again the Rogue had the jump on them, fleeing through the first door, but was bloodied by the Opportunity Attacks. Asgrim charged and Maximus attacked - twice! - to stop him, but they all missed, and as the Rogue escaped through the second door, one of them seemed doomed to be left behind. Noticing the ground panel nearest the door was probably weight sensitive and might shut it before they got through, they decided to coordinate a running jump together through the door. They both made it, though the door slamming shut behind them gashed Asgrim severely, and the Rogue was flabbergasted at them. However, figuring that they had all got through, they magnanimously chose to let him be.
Doc Holiday was paired with a Sorcerer in swampy terrain against some wild beasts and army ant swarms, two of which he recognised as his former pets. Before he could act though, a huge estaurine crocodile burst from the water seizing him in its vice-like jaws. Fortunately, he managed to turn his former pets back to his side, promising to sate their hunger, and the Sorcerer got distracted trying to blast the swarms. Caught between a swarm and in the jaws of the crocodile, a few unlucky hits caused Doc to slip into unconsciousness in its deathgrip, but the Sorcerer managed to revive him before he was chewed to death, and they consequently managed to dispatch the crocodile then the rest.
In the coordinator's room, Elka struggled trying to hack the door open via the researcher's terminal. Her attempts brought 2 guards to investigate the room, and she left the terminal to deal with them, killing one but the other fled. Realizing she had limited time, she went back to try and complete the process but again got stuck, and was still trying when 3 more guards arrived. Her final attempt succeeded, she looked around in desperation and found a flashbang on 1 of the guards she had killed, even as the guards opened fire, grieviously wounding her. Fortunately, she managed to blind all 3 of the guards with the grenade, and sneak away while they were blinded. Having thrown off pursuit, although the alarm had been raised, she hurried through the facility to find those two ( three in fact ) that she had managed to free.

Characters (Players) - 2E / Arc Lv 4, Player Lv 4
Asgrim (Andreas) : 1 / X XP 4
Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 1 / X XP 4
Maximus (Alphonsus) : 1 / X XP 4
Elka (Vanessa) : 1 / X XP 4
New Char XP : 0.5 / X XP 4

Notes
- Surges Spent : 2+6+2+3 = 13 / 4 = 3 on Avg.
Those attending the next session will be starting with 3 less surges, unless they choose to run the 1st and/or 2nd challenge.
- Apart from Elka, the Characters do not have any $ or items on them except whatever they need for combat.

[Zyraen]

1.2 Snatched from the Fire
22-Feb-14 (Saturday)

Those still within the challenges - Doc Holiday the Cleric/Sentinel, Maximilian the Mage, P19 the Swordmage/Warlock, Karash the Swordmage - got themselves paired up in two separate teams. For the next challenge, there were 4 teams but only 2 keys on platforms over a relatively shallow pool of water, and each team had to secure 1 key to escape from a pair of doors. Both teams initially decided to cooperate, with the pair of Swordmages quickly dispatching one of their foes, but the other team made slow progress against a Warlock and Wizard pairing. Anxious to end the violence, Maximilian seized one key then attempted to seize the next, but attempting to bring both keys together resulted in a discharge of electricity that he managed to avoid getting shocked by. He then tried to persuade the rest to surrender, failing which he used Prestidigation to pretend to break the one key he had. This threw everyone off, including his team mate, and the remaining enemies made a desperate bid to get the remaining key. Their proximity to each other resulted in a slightly easier victory for the 2 teams, although Maximilian's actions severely strained the cooperation with the others, including almost coming to blows with the bloodthirsty Karash.
Meantime, the security personnel ( Elka the Rogue and Harry the Ranger ) joined up with a few of the rescued test subjects ( Maximus the Bard/Warlock and Zann the Paladin ) deeper into the facility to break out those subjects who survive to the final challenge. Along the way they get past doors and other guards, until they are faced with one of the "security" of the lower levels of the facility - a dangerous Guardian Robot. While the courageous Paladin bore the brunt of its assault, the rest set up a trap for the Robot and they managed to destroy the machine, taking the "key" on it and entering the lower levels of the research.

As they prepared to enter the next and final challenge, the Challengers were informed that they would face two Gun Turrets and one Robot. However, both keys used together would activate a device on their belt, which would cause the Robot and Gun Turrets to ignore them. One Key was being held by P19, another by Maximilian, but they could not agree how to use them and each individually went about their own business of coming under fire.
While they were busy, the group of rescuers reached and broke into a secure control room with 3 terminals, each having separate "release" access to the exit door. Fortunately Harry heard the approach of guards and sealed the door after they had got in, resulting in the guards having to contend with unlocking the door before they could open fire on them. By then, they were largely clustered together, and a powerful blast of darkness from Maximus bloodied most of them, and they were subsequently distracted by the threatening (if blinded) Zann. This bought enough time for Harry and Maximus to unseal the door, freeing the Challengers, but they also feared freeing the Guardian Robot especially as P19 was still prone.
Fortunately, Maximilian agreed to leave behind his key, and Harry sealed P19 inside where he could leisurely dismantle the Robot after activating his belt device. As for their attackers, after Maximilian tricked them into thinking they couldn't escape safely, and the others brought down more of the guards, the rest surrendered in return for their lives.

Characters (Players) - 4E / Arc Lv 4, Player Lv 4
Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 2 / X XP 4
Elka (Vanessa) : 2 / X XP 4
Maximus (Alphonsus) : 2 / X XP 4
Harry (Andy) : 1.5 / X XP 4
Karash (Kok Ken) : 1.5 / X XP 4
Maximilian (Chee Han) : 1.5 / X XP 4
P19 (Yi Jeng) : 1.5 / X XP 4
Zann (Tjoei Kok) : 1.5 / X XP 4
AFK - Asgrim (Andreas) : 1.5 / X XP 4
New Char XP : 1.0 / X XP 4

Notes
- Apart from Elka and Harry, the Characters do not have any $ or items on them except whatever they need for combat.
- Harry took 12 provisions and $170 from a vending machine.
- Maximus gained a Rifle

- Surges Spent
1st Enc : 3+1+1+0+2+2+2+2 = 13
2nd Enc : 2+1+2+0+3+0 = 8
Average : 21 Surges / 7 Characters (on avg) = 3 Surges.
- Asgrim who was AFK will start next session with 3 less surges.
- Elka and Doc Holiday who missed the 2nd Encounter will start next session with 1 less surge each.

- Before the next session, if they wish, the Characters can spend $10 to use the following ritual.
Comrades' Succor (Level 1 Ritual)
Ritual participants share their vitality and luck with one another.
Component Cost: 10 gp
Market Price: 150 gp
Key Skill: Heal (no check)
Category: Restoration
Time: 5 minutes
Duration: Instantaneous
While performing this ritual, you and up to 5 participants in the ritual can choose to lose any number of healing surges and select another participant to gain an equal number of healing surges. No participant can have more healing surges than his or her daily maximum.
Additionally, you or one participant must lose 1 healing surge when performing this ritual.

EDIT: wrote the number of provisions and $ gained by Harry.

[Zyraen]

1.3 Leeerroy Jenkiiins!
01-Mar-14 (Saturday)

With their objective achieved, the characters deliberated for a considerable time whether to go straight to the exit hangar-like garage to hijack vehicles and drive away, or to first retrieve the belongings of the captives from 2 bunks. They eventually decided to split and go to both bunks at once. One pair - Doc Holiday and Maximus - had an easier time, intimidating one inattentive guard who had been playing with his handphone to surrender. The other pair - Harry and Zann - found themselves dealing with 2 alert and committed guards, but dealt with them in a series of lightning fast attacks that never missed their mark.

Between the two bunks, they retrieved all the missing gear, as well as some additional equipment and cash that was largely pocketed as loot by the rest except the pious Zann. Maximus also found a laptop that was subject to wireless remote access, the unknown accessor apparently trying to access a locked directory. When Maximus offered to help in the hopes of gaining an ally, the unknown accessor identified himself as JP, mentioned they might be in a rush, and provided an email to reach him when the laptop was back online so he could carry on his access.
The characters used the walkie-talkies on an unused frequency to coordinate a rendezvous before heading to the Garage, and one group detected an ambush laid for them midway. They relayed their location to the other two and caught the "ambush" in a pincer that quickly neutralized most of their foes, and acquired a few Flashbangs for future use.

Now that they had formed up, Harry briefed the rest on the layout of the garage. Using the laptop that already had wireless enabled, Maximus managed to hack into one of the security cameras with a view to the place. There they saw a large force of 4 guards, 2 sergeants, and 2 smartly dressed personnel holding submachine guns (SMGs), all watching the sole entrance from the research facility with guns at the ready, and some had taken up firing positions atop a high stack of carates at one side. The garage door was closed, likely opened from a control room that was joined by stairs to overlook the garage. They also saw two large trucks, one armored vehicle, one forklift near the crates, and a ventilator shaft overhead, that just stopped short of leading into the control room. Using their understanding of the building layout and clues from the camera, they managed to locate the entrance to ventilator shaft from within the facility. From the shaft, it was still a long and painful drop to the ground, and even to the staircase leading to the control room, but the drop to the top of the crates was somewhat more manageable yet at the opposite side from the control room.
Despite the overwhelming firepower they faced, the characters decided that it would be best to neutralize all their foes, then disable whichever vehicles they were not using to make pursuit impossible. Doc Holiday and Maximus would enter the shaft and use a Flashbang to disable as many as they could, while Harry snipes from a window in the corridor leading into the garage, and Zann charges in through the doorway like Leeroy Jenkins to... draw as much fire as possible. They would aim to quickly take out the SMG-wielding officers to reduce enemy firepower, then deal with the rest.

The plan worked well initially, with Doc opening the ventilator hatch and Maximus dropping a flashbang that blinded an officer and two other guards. Zann took a defensive stance and drew fire as he opened the door, yet only barely getting hit by the unblinded enemies due to his armor, and Harry started sniping at the blinded Officer through the window. However, things quickly went downhill as try as they might, their initial target proved incredibly lucky AND resilient, getting hit much less than they expected. Zann managed to reach a forklift, and though he was not too good driving it, he had just enough speed to impale a nearby guard with the forklift against the crates, and Harry finished the injured guard off. There was some confusion as the Characters were unsure who to take out first and the withering pace of fire severely damaged Zann and took out one of Doc's pets while the other was stuck trying to jump over a railing. Then the Doc courageously leaped out of the hatch onto the crate to try and divert fire from the wounded Zann, even as Harry's failed stealth drew an almost lethal fusillade as the enemies managed to pinpoint the location of the "sniper". Fortunately the SMG ammunition eventually got used up, and the officers took to using their rapiers, one getting Zann to abandon his lethal forklift with the threat of his blade, the other injured officer climbing up to corner Doc on the crates at swordpoint. Just as things were looking grim, Harry managed to save Doc with a timely shot that killed the officer. All this while, the courageous (leeeroy!) Zann had managed to keep himself up maintaining a threat on the ground, but having run out of surges while caught between a guard and an officer, he was in dire straits. Maximus threw himself onto the crates near the Doc, taking falling damage to try and divert fire, and even as he was bloodied, he still shouted taunts at the Officer busy with Zann, and managed to distract him from the injured paladin.

With all their selfless heroics despite being severely outnumbered, the characters eventually dispatched the second officer then all the rest of their enemies, carrying the day and reaping a hefty amount of loot. They chose the fastest looking vehicles - two pick-ups in one corner of the garage - and decided to disable all the rest of the vehicles (except the forklift), before driving off into the African sunset.

Characters (Players) - 4E / Arc Lv 4, Player Lv 4 - COMPLETE
Level Up! - Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 0 / X XP 5
Level Up! - Maximus (Alphonsus) : 0 / X XP 5
Harry (Andy) : 2.5 / 3 XP 4
Zann (Tjoei Kok) : 2.5 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Elka (Vanessa) : 2.5 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Karash (Kok Ken) : 2 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Maximilian (Chee Han) : 2 / 3 XP 4
AFK - P19 (Yi Jeng) : 2 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Asgrim (Andreas) : 2 / 3 XP 4
New Char XP : 1.5 / 3 XP 4

Notes
- Harry gained a Rifle (not included below)
- Loot from Enemies : 2 SMGs (0 ammo), 2 Rifles, 8 Handguns, 4 Flashbangs, 2 Grenades
- Locker B Loot : Harry gained $400 and 2 Adventurer's Kit.
- Locker A Loot : Doc Holiday and Maximus each gained $250 and 1 Adventurer's Kit
- Elka and Harry have their personal papers, money, adventurer's kit as from the start.
- Doc Holiday, Maximus, Zann have regained their personal papers, money, and adventurer's kit
- Party Belongings with Doc Holiday : Asgrim, P16
- Party Belongings with Maximus : Karash, Maximilian (including Laptop)
- Loot recovered from Truck : 2 Assault Rifle clips (not mentioned in session)
- Maps found in the glove compartments of the Pickups reveal they are in South Ethiopia, with the nearest city being Awasa (not mentioned in session)

- Surges Spent
4+2+5+2 = 13 / 4 characters = 3.25 surges (on avg)
This does not affect Absent Characters as there will be an Extended Rest with the end of the Arc

[Zyraen]

2.1 Awasa
23-Mar-14 (Sunday)
The various characters got to know each other along the almost full day drive to the city of Awasa in South Ethiopia, while deliberating what to do. One of them, P19 introduced himself as a face-changing cyborg with someone else's memories implanted into him. There was some tension as Maximilian suggested going back to the facility to find out more about the organization that had captured most of them, but was eventually persuaded by the rest to carry on to Awasa.
They were running low on gas when they arrived at the city, almost completely populated by half-orcs, and Maximilian and P19 decided to ask around at one of the markets for directions to find a hotel with Wireless to access the internet via Maximilian's laptop. The two of them were approached by child beggars and Maximilian used a trick to pass one of them a coin, which quickly resulted in him being surrounded by more beggars and almost got him pickpocketed. He used Fey Step to escape the press of people, which provoked cries of fear and bewilderment, but he managed to calm them assuring it was preview for an upcoming magic show.

Arriving at the hotel, the Heroes managed to talk themselves out of a rip-off attempt by the reception manager seeing how foreign they were, and got Wi-Fi access after getting one room. They managed to identify two possible locations where they could sell the vehicles they got from the research facility and buy new, less traceable ones. Looking at their foreign nature, the half-orc garage owner realized the vehicles were probably ill-gotten and offered them a black market purchase rate ($100 per vehicle) in return for silence. Once they had accepted and proceeded to buy two newer pick-ups ($200 per vehicle) though, he proved quite amiable, letting one of his men go with them so they could get a lower rate for 3 days petrol at a pump, and even gave them tips where to sell the captured weaponry they had forgot to unload off their original vehicles.
It was dusk when they arrived to find "ice-cream" at the inn he directed them to, where they noticed some quasi-military dressed men among the clientele. The innkeeper directed them to a room to wait, before 5 half-orcs - all armed and with appropriate padded vests - arrived, and the purchasing IC directed them to lay what they had to offer on the bed, including one SMG. He was initially concerned about the SMG, probably recognising it from somewhere, but P19 in the guise of a half-orc hit off remarkably well with him though, and convinced him to buy it for a very good rate. They also asked about the organization that had captured them, which he says is locally influential enough he would have to send the SMG to be used elsewhere, and he gathers is in some way related to "ComTech". He noted their agents would be watching airports, likely in Awasa and Djibouti (capital of Ethiopia).

The party digested the new information about their recent captors and decide to leave Awasa, heading south instead, opting to cross the border into Somalia rather than Kenya. They had barely left town when the road was blocked by a makeshift log barrier and 3 armed men asking them to pay to pass through, and the one heading to their vehicles wanted to charge them $50 per head including for the 2 animals. Maximilian hypnotized him into believing that there were others coming, and they let the characters drive through and park to one side to wait. The party chose not to risk gunfire by driving away, which might explode the petrol they had at the back of their pick-ups. Taking Maximillian's laptop as a prop, they asked the militia if they wanted to look while the waited for "the others" to arrive, but the leader with the radio comms device was suspicious. Nonetheless, they were caught largely offguard by the sudden vicious attack from the characters, the psychotic-seeming ranger killing their leader and then another man before the rest knocked the other 2 unconscious militia. As the men begged for their lives, the party had a long debate about whether to kill the remaining 2 militia. When that ended in a tie and further discussion, the ranger got impatient and killed both the remaining 2 men with a single blast of his shotgun.

Characters (Players) - 4E / Arc Lv 5, Player Lv 5
Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 1 / X XP 5
Maximus (Alphonsus) : 1 / X XP 5
Level Up! - Maximilian (Chee Han) : 0 / X XP 5
Level Up! - P19 (Yi Jeng) : 0 / X XP 5
"Psycho-Ranger" (Shaun) : 2.5 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Harry (Andy) : 3 / 3 XP 4
AFK - Zann (Tjoei Kok) : 3 / 3 XP 4
New Char XP : 2 / 3 XP 4

Notes
- "Psycho-Ranger" lost 1 Morality
- Maximilian bought a new tuxedo and some smart casual clothes for $35.
- P19 does not have travel papers, though everyone else has
- Balance Loot: 1 SMGs (0 ammo), 4 Flashbangs, 2 Grenades, 2 Assault Rifle clips
- Party Expenses: $800 = $50 for hotel "stay" for Wi-Fi, $200 net for 2 vehicles, $150 for 3 days petrol, $400 for 2 SMG clips
- Party Gains: $780 = $80 (20% of 8 handguns & 2 rifles), $700 (70% of SMG)
- P19 and Maximilian have regained their own gear
- Party Belongings with Doc Holiday : Asgrim
- Party Belongings with Maximus : Karash

- Surges Spent : NONE

- Level Up
Note that all those who reach Level 5 gain $168 as well. This includes Doc Holiday and Maximus from earlier.

- For Fun : Pictures of Awasa today
www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=849248

[Zyraen]

2.2 Somalia
29-Mar-14 (Saturday)
While travelling to the border, the Characters were stopped by a motorbike-riding Dragonborn called Sensei who claimed to know more about their foe and imperiously ordered them to join his cause against the organization who captured them. They shrugged him off and carried on their way, seemingly determined to be Somali pirates.

Along the way to the border, the road seemed to widen with larger deeper vehicle tracks, and they came across a crashed motorcycle and a fallen half-orc rider. Doc Holiday helped the man, who informed them that there was a large force of Ethiopian military guarding the border. In return for being delivered to his military contact at the border, the injured man helped to arrange for them skipping the regular immigration checkpoint, both on the Ethiopian and Somali sides, albeit at a certain fee.

After entering Somalia, the characters came to the border town of Luuq, a place near the Somali military encampment at the border and a popular place for military R&R, where they stopped to refuel and have drinks at the inn. There they saw two soldiers roughing up a hapless man who tried to get in the way of his partner prostituting herself to the soldiers' officer. Zann interposed himself but remained steadfastly non-aggressive, and Sensei reappeared and slipped the soldiers some money to leave the poor half-orc alone. As the officer had already left with the woman to the backrooms, they joined the man for some beer. After the officer rejoined the main room with the woman nowhere in sight, Sensei headed for the backrooms where his attempt to prevent her from slipping out the backdoor drew a scream before he knocked her unconscious. Zann and the woman's husband hurried behind on hearing the scream, while the soldiers whipped the crowd into an anti-foreigner sentiment and herded them to the back where they saw the Dragonborn standing over the crumpled form of the unconscious half-orc woman. This forced Sensei and Zann to escape out the back where they met up with the rest of the characters and quickly skipped town together.

The characters journeyed south-east towards the coastal city of Kismayo, and found the place crawling with Somali military forces. They paid some money to enter a conflict zone normally off-limits to foreigners, and learnt the government forces were busy trying to drive the Al-Shabaab insurgents from Kismayo and the surrounding areas. The characters persuaded the soldiers to introduce them to their captain, to whom they offered their services against the terrorists. The captain informed them the government has listed a $2,000 reward ( a fortune by Somali standards ) for the capture or death of El Mamoud, the known leader of the Al-Shabaab in Kismayo, and were also interested in finding out the other Al-Shabaab leadership behind him. He also briefed them that the Somali military held the North, West and Central of Kismayo, and have evacuated the citizenry there, but the East and South areas held by Al-Shabaab still had civilians, for the outnumbered and outgunned militants used cowardly guerilla tactics posing as civilians, with no regard for the lives of innocents. After hearing the characters' plans to pretend to be peddlers of supplies, the captain provided them the requested spare containers and sandbags, and offered some papers to help them past the government troops into the heart of city, but suggested they destroy the papers before meeting Al-Shabaab lest they be found during a search.

The characters soon reached the area of Kismayo that was controlled by the militants, nearer to the coastline, and realized the Al-Shabaab might be linked to pirates as well. They were soon spotted by militants and their two "provision"-laden pick-ups were led to a cul-de-sac, where an Al-Shabaab quartermaster waited to meet them in the second floor of the building. Meantime, the characters were quite sure El Mamoud was no mere QM, and worried that if the militants were to open up the containers to inspect the supplies, they would realize there was only 1 layer of provisions and the rest were sandbags.

Characters (Players) - 4E / Arc Lv 5, Player Lv 5
Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 2 / X XP 5
Level Up! - Zann (Tjoei Kok) : 1 / X XP 5
Level Up! - "Psycho-Ranger" (Shaun) : 0.5 / X XP 5
Level Up! - Sensei (Danny) : 0 / X XP 5
AFK - Maximus (Alphonsus) : 1.5 / X XP 5
AFK - Maximilian (Chee Han) : 0.5 / X XP 5
AFK - P19 (Yi Jeng) : 0.5 / X XP 5
AFK - Harry (Andy) : 3.5 / 3 XP 4
New Char XP : 2 / 3 XP 4

Notes
- Sensei's Motorbike is an uncharged plot-item, hence unusable after joining the party.
- Sensei paid $40 to the soldiers to stop roughing up the half-orc
- Zann paid $5 to treat the upset half-orc to Beer in Luuq
- Loot: 1 SMGs (0 ammo), 4 Flashbangs, 2 Grenades, 2 Assault Rifle clips
- Individual Expense: $70 per Party Member (including Absentees), being $50 for Border Crossing and $20 nearing Kismayo.
- Surges Spent : NONE

- Level Up
Note that all those who reach Level 5 gain $168 as well.

Major Edit: replaced "Somalian" with "Somali". my bad, thank you for pointing it out.

[Zyraen]

2.3 Make Them An Offer They Can't Refuse
12-Apr-14 (Saturday)
The characters managed to convince the relatively simple-minded QM that the food was a free gift, in exchange for an offer of more serious arms business with his leader, while convincing them to leave the boxes unopened until the time was right. The second meeting about arms supply was a bit more terse initially, but the man took a liking to P19's half-orc persona and decided to bring them to see his boss, which they confirmed was El Mamoud, regarding an offer of exchange of services.

He brought them, along with 2 of his men, to an area of Kismayo closer to the coast, where they entered what looked like a short office building, with about 12 security personnel milling around on the lower floors. They took a lift to the 4th floor, where they entered past 2 armed guards into a conference-like room with about 5 half-orcs, including one in office attire. The characters recognizing that man as their quarry, and almost immediately after settling down, they launched a surprise attack. Unfortunately, that coordinated attack did not connect well, and being outnumbered, the characters soon found themselves in a grim situation. Fortunately, they managed to cling on and turn it around, intimidating enough foes and using every trick at their disposal to eventually pull a bloody victory out of the protracted gunfight.

They had a discussion with the captured El Mamoud about the situation and their plans, but eventually decided it was inconclusive, and planned to kill him instead for the reward.

Characters (Players) - 4E / Arc Lv 5, Player Lv 5
Doc Holiday (AlexKong) : 3 / X XP 5
Maximus (Alphonsus) : 2.5 / X XP 5
P19 (Yi Jeng) : 1.5 / X XP 5
Level Up! - Harry (Andy) : 1.5 / X XP 4
AFK - Zann (Tjoei Kok) : 1.5 / X XP 5
AFK - "Psycho-Ranger" (Shaun) : 1 / X XP
New Char XP : 2.5 / 3 XP 4

Notes
- Loot: 2 SMG (1 from El Mamoud), 3 Flashbangs (1 was used), 2 Grenades, 2 Assault Rifle clips, 3 Rifles (gained 3), 6 Handguns (gained 6)
- Surges Spent : 3+4+4*+1* = 12 / 4 = 3 surges (avg)

- Level Up
Note that all those who reach Level 5 gain $168 as well.