The telepathic connection still works... good... looks like he can turn it off and on voluntarely now. Odeon feels at ease, he asks the voice inside his head "Hey... you got any idea how to get to Ann Arbor the quickest? Any direct roads?" to which said voice responds "Nope... never toured around there... don't know the surroundings."
Well it was worth a try Odeon thinks to himself "Hmm... too bad.." before entering the dense, now wild growing former farming fields of the area together with Elori.
Elori feels at peace as they walk through the natural scenery, traversing through several small forests and crossing over a deserted highway in the hopes of finding a vehicle, but there's none.
Finally, after two hours they reach the outskirts of Ann Arbor. Leaving the trail of a tree-filled area, buildings start to appear, Elori reads the signs on old mossy signpost on the exit path "Dicken Woods Nature Area... Michigan Stadium... Ah!" he finds an especially interesting one "Ann Arbor Amtrak Station... 3,75 miles! Odeon! It looks like we're almost there." Odeon is happy, one step closer he thinks, smiling "Great!"
Most of the houses they can see look destroyed, like in a suburban nightmare movie. There's also a school building, which looks relatively intact, but it's not lighted. They're about the height of Dicken Woods and it would take them another hour to reach the trainstation up north. It's slowly getting dark, the sun has almost gone beyond the horizon and they haven't had anything to eat in a while, their stomachs are rumbling a bit. There is a row of single family houses in front of them. As they get near them they can see that some of the walls have holes inside them, likely hailing from bullets. In front of them are three wood-constructed houses, one of them has a red gable roof, the second one in the middle has a door with a big bronze isigna on it "Everyone welcome", the third one has a terrace and a second floor.
Elori lets out a sigh, “It’s getting dark out...” he takes his bag off of his shoulders and reach into it to pulls out two apples. to Odeon, “Here, it isn’t much but it’s all I have.” he tosses the apples to Odeon, one-by-one.
Odeon catches the apples and makes some handmotions towards the houses. "Listen, its getting late. Its getting dark. We got a little food but we need more for our journey. We need to find shelter and more edible stuff, rest here for the night. In my opinion it's too dangerous to push on. We don't even know the situation of the train station right now. Shit might be hella dangerous. What do you say we search these houses for food and barricade ourselves into a room for the night, then push on to the trainstation next morning?"
Elori nods in agreement and says “What houses should we hit first?”
Odeon points at the second house with the welcoming insignia "I say we go for the second one. Not like it matters. Every house potentially could have bad guys in it. Theres also a chance it's people not out to harm us, lets not forget. I say we walk in there slowly but announce our presence and treat every threat carefully."
Elori says "Sounds good. I’ll trail you.” They slowly walk towards the house.
Odeon draws his glock yelling "HELLO?? ANYBODY THERE!?"
Elori narrows his eyes as he trails him. They hear no response, only the howling of the wind in the air and some cats meowing in the neighbourhood.
Elori steps forward “I’ll try the door.”
He walks up the pathway towards the house and turns the door knob.
Odeon nods and keeps his eyes on the door, gun still drawn. Also he quickly looks around to make sure no one is there.
As they enter the house and begin moving through it they sense that no one else is inside. There are three rooms: A kitchen, a bedroom and a living room, the last one being the largest room with access to the garden through a window-door. Everything looks like a mess, as if the people living here had to leave in a hurry: There are dirty moldy plates still on the kitchen table, clothes lying around and you don't see any sign of anyone living here the past days. The house is furnished really new-agey, there are some lavalamps and three yoga matresses lying around in the living room and a book about Feng Shui on the living room table.
Elori takes in his surroundings and he sighs, “Everything here tells a sad story." He whispers. “It’s clear Odeon!” And he walks into the doorway. Odeon also looks around and tries to make sense of the chaos inside "I wonder what happened."
[Odeon and Elori begin scavenging, they roll an Investigation (Intelligence) Roll (d20) to search the perimeter for valuables]
Elori Investigation (Intelligence) Check (d20): 6+1 = 7
Odeon Investigation (Intelligence) Check (d20): 4
They find some still unused, but dusty looking, cutlery in a kitchen drawer, there's also a sharp butcher knife among them, as well as several glasses and plates.
They collect the following objects:
2 Cans of sweet corn
5 Potatoes, 2 of them are green-skinned
2 Carrottes
A container with some flour
1 Pan Flute (looks high quality, with a colorful design showing some flowers)
A unused pack of small tea candles (50 pieces)
A filled 1 gallon water bottle from beneath the sink.
2 Large Mountaineer Backpacks
The pillows on the couch look cozy. The water is still running on the taps, looks like there's some sort of reservoir still supplying this house, it even looks fairly clean at first glance. There's a portable gas stove in the corner of the kitchen. Yes. They can stay here for the night. Odeon is content. He quickly takes the panflute and lets the water run for a few moments to minimize the amount of stale liquid that could possibly harm their health. Afterwards he chugs down several glasses worth of it. After giving a grin to Elori, he puts the pan flute away in his bag "Hope you don't mind me claiming the pan flute Elori, always wanted to own one. What you think... this place looks good right? Take some precautions and afterwards head to bed?"
Elori gives me small grin at the showing of food I had collected. “Be my guest, I’m not very sure I know what to do with a pan flute regardless.” He walks around a little bit towards the living room, “Yeah, this place should be easily fortifiable or so.” He sits down, legs crossed. “I think that sounds like a great plan, I’m just ready to sleep if I’m being honest".
As Odeon inspects some of the potatoes to check if they're edible, he glances at the symbol on Elori's clothes. While he's placing the food back on the table he asks "I noticed the symbol on your clothes, can I ask what it means?" he takes take another look at the symbol "Wild guess but is it something religious?"
Elori throws his pack off to his left “Yes, the godness of knowledge Atiya. It’s where I believe I draw my power from. I find solace in it in this world especially. It’s the reason why I travel and explore, to gather knowledge and experience everything I can within my life-span.” He pauses briefly. “The tome I carry has her teachings and her philosophies that I’ve made my own. It’s said all intelligent thought is sprang from her, whether that was meant to be taken literally or metaphorically is something that will only be proven when I have had my last breath, however I’m young, so unless I meet an untimely end assisting you, that’s something I’ll have to wait for.” he yawns, “I would love to instill her teachings into you, but I’m afraid there’s more pressing matters at hand.”
Odeon gives Elori a friendly grin "Interesting. Tell me more about it once we've got time." looks like this is a spiritual one, he gets up "Alright, let's set up the fortifications first then. Well better eat in the morning though. Imma keep the food in the room just in case though.".
Elori nods "Alright, I think I can bear that hunger for another night."
The both of them food stow away and fortificating the bedroom with the furniture he can find around the house. While doing the chores Odeon decides it's time to transition to the serious topics "Elori... I've actually got powers too."
Elori who's just carrying a table over to the door to cover it, almost drops the furniture "Wait... what?!" it's the first time he actually met someone with the same condition as him, maybe he can finally find out more about it, he's getting excited yelling "You're the first one I meet! I've heard there are others though, but never ran into anyone!" he must ask him "Do you also don't rem.."
Odeon finishes his sentence "... don't remember what happened?"
Eloris eyes widen "YEAH! Something happened 3 1/2 years ago... I don't remember the exact date, somewhere around summer, everything around that time is foggy!"Odeon nods, finally someone who's in the same boat as him "The amnesia. You're suffering from it too" he somehow feels relieved "I'm not the only one then... "
Elori wonders "Have you tried talking to other people about that apocalyptic event?"
Odeon shakes his head "No... didn't really get the chance to. I was out in the wilderness on my own the past years... "
Elori lifts his eyebrows is astonishment "I see" and reports "I tried to two or three times, with different people in various locations but they just started running away in some kind of fear when I started asking questions about whatever happened back there... "
Odeon lifts an eyebrow "Odd. As if they couldn't." while closing the door to the bathroom and putting a stool underneath the knob.
Elori agrees "Yes, very odd. But it's the reason I stopped asking about it." there's a silence for a moment while he's thinking if he should reveal his feelings, but it's probably the best to talk open "Odeon, I don't believe in coincidences. After hearing you've got powers too and confirming we're in the same clueless condition, I believe us meeting must be fate. Apparently Atiya had a more elaborate plan for me than just traveling, and that plan is for me to help you reclaim the world to what it once was." he looks straight at Odeon, who looks back, their gazes meet.
Odeon is in joy, this one is a passionate one, maybe this could even develop into something more than a partnership of convenience. He should return the trust. Maybe nows the time to spill the beans "Elori, you know someone called 6ix9ine?"
Elori shakes his head "No. Who's that?"
Odeon sighs, yeah, he could've probably guessed, that music probably isn't his style "He was... is a Rapper." but maybe it's for the best he doesn't know that guy with his eccentric personality.
Eloris mouth widens "Oooohhh... yeah I used to be into Hip Hop and Rap Music heavy before setting out for my travels years ago. Lil Wayne is the goat. Last Album I heard was Tha Carter IV."
Odeon lifts an eyebrow, he's surprised, looks like this man keeps on subverting his expectations "Wow... didn't think you'd be a man of the culture." he's wondering "You do know Carter V was released right fam?"
Elori drops the chair is holding "WHAT?! WHEN?!" his heart almost stops for a moment. How could his ears have missed a possible master piece from one of his idol artists?
Odeon calmly reveals "2018. Two years before, you know, the apocalypse."Elori yells "DAMN! Odeon! If by any chance we're walking past a record store, you wont be able to stop me storming into it now!"
Odeon laughs, it's been a while since he had a talk about a light topic and someone reacting this way "Man, you're cracking me up."
Elori smirks "I'm even more motivated to set out now... what about that 6ix9ine guy though? Was he big?"
Odeon nods, his laughter immediatly stops, his gaze is becoming serious "Very... and he's still alive... I need to meet him, but he's trapped and can't leave. I just found out about that recently." for a moment he panics, maybe he already revealed too much to a stranger? He probably shouldn't tell him about the telepathic connection yet.
Elori takes a moment to puzzle the pieces in his mind together, he's got a hunch though from the conversation he had with Odeon in the bar "Let me guess... he's in Manhattan? That's why you're trying to get there."
Odeon nods, good, looks like Elori's a quick-thinker "Yes. Our first task to save the world is to get there... and free him."
Elori gets a confused look on his face "I don't understand? How exactly will traveling several hundreds of miles to free a rapper aid us in saving the world?"
Odeon is getting headaches, he hoped he wouldn't ask why, so he wouldn't need to give him an answer, but hopefully this will be enough to quench this wandering silver-haired dudes curiousity "We'll get him on the radio, once we broadcast that he's still alive, we'll be able to save the world.". If Odeon was honest with himself, he probably couldn't give Elori a satisfying explanation, so this has to suffice for now "I know it sounds crazy...!!"
Elori is even more confused "So... he also got some kind of super powers? And those will save us?" Is what Odeon is telling really true? How could that actually work?
Odeon tries to look as earnest as possible while nodding "Yes, exactly he's got powers.", knowing deep inside that he doesn't know if what he's telling is true or not. But now that he already revealed his intentions to Elori, it's probably best to feed him a hope made out of lies, rather than to lose his trust completely. "But I can't reveal to you how exactly we'll do it... yet... else it might endanger the whole plan." He can't... He just can't tell him the truth.
Elori is deeply in thoughts for a moment. How could it be possible to save this whole mess by rescueing one person? It wouldn't make any sense for Odeon to be lying though, what that guy in a green poncho is proclaiming is cray' cray' anyway already. Maybe not all of what he's saying is true... but even if all of this was a lie, there must be a very important reason why Odeon is trying to get into New York. No one that cares for their lives would want to go their right now. And judging by what happened in the Subways, he isn't the type of person to just throw his life away. He looks up to the ceiling thinking about his godess teachings and sighs "I shouldn't worry too much, right?"
Odeon doesn't understand "Huh?"
Elori looks back at him "Oh.. it's nothing... I was just talking to myself.." he smiles gently "... and I've decided to come along even after hearing this ridiculous explanation you just gave me... I want to see where this mission of yours will lead me..." he pauses for a moment "us..."
Odeon grins "Great!" but he has to make sure Elori understands "Make sure not to tell anyone about why we're actually traveling there ait, fam?" he reaches out with his palm for a handshake "I can trust you right?"
"Course fam'" Elori says after he reaches out with and gives Odeon a high five "My godess preaches compassion, not betrayal..."
The two fall asleep soundly after an exhausting day, the moonlight dimly shining upon them through some of the cracks in the stacked furniture. Both have them have strange dreams as they reflect on the hectic events of the day.
[System Information: Level Up]
[Level Up]
[If enough challenges have been overcome and experience has been gathered, as well as certain conditions have been met, the players will experience a Level Up]
[Level Ups grant: Status Points, Additional Health, as well as new Skills and Abilities]
[Skills and Abilities development is individual to each player, there's certain conditions to be met for Skills to be obtained]
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[Odeon Level Up!]
[Add +1 Status Point to Status Value (Stat) of your Choice]
[Available Stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma] (See Post-Chapter note for more information)
[Odeon chooses Charisma]
[Health Incresed: +5 Health Points gained]
[Choose 1 from 2 given Skills/Perks]
Gunslinger Passive Perk For every ranged weapon attack you make against an enemy with a gun/rifle, you gain 1 charge.
At 5 charges, they reset and you gain the Extra Attack feature for 2 rounds. If you already have the Extra Attack/Multi-attack, it is increased by 1 instead.
Mending Transmutation Cantrip Casting Time: 1 Minute Range: Components: V, S, M (The manipulated material) Duration: Instantaneous This spell repairs a single break or tear in an object you touch, such as a broken chain link, two halves of a broken key, a torn cloak, or a leaking wineskin. As long as the break or tear is no larger than 1 foot in any dimension, you mend it, leaving no trace of the former damage.
Odeon opens his eyes and is in an empty dark space, his mind is hazy. Standing in front of him are two faintly light-blue shimmering pure white doors. They're open, glistening white light is shining behind them, making it impossible to see what's behind. He's been here before, Odeon thinks, he knows what he has to do. It's like when he first received the Fire Bolt spell. His mind instinctively knows that going through one of these doors will lead to him attaining new abilities, and he also knows which ones hide behind them. He only has to choose now. Odeon moves through one of the doors.
[Odeon obtains the Mending Cantrip]
----------------------------------------
[System Information: Level Up]
[Elori Level Up!]
[Add +1 Status Point to Stat of your Choice]
[Elori chooses Intelligence]
[+5 Health Points gained]
[Choose 1 from 3 given Skills/Perks]
Guidance Divination Cantrip Casting Time: 1 Action Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the ability check. The spell then ends.
Gust Transmutation Cantrip Casting Time: 1 Action Range: 30 feet Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous Using your action, you transmute the air to create of the following effects:
One Medium or smaller creature that you choose must pass a Strength save or be shoved up to 5 feet away from you.
You create a gust that can gently push an object that weighs 5 lbs or less and isn't held or carried up to 10 feet away from you.
You create a sensory effect that cannot inflict harm using the air.
Cure Wounds (Basic) 1st-level Evocation Casting Time: 1 Action Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous Cooldown: Usable Once per Short Rest A creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs. Per Level you gain one additional use per short rest.
Elori is standing in front of the doors once again. He wonders what condition lead to him end up being here yet again, not that he's unhappy about it. Knowing fully well he can only choose one of the three doors he nevertheless makes his decision instantly and moves through the he instinctively likes on sight.
[Elori obtains the Gust Spell]
Both of them sleep through the night undisturbed.
Day 2
Odeon is the first to wake up around 6.30 am, he feels refreshed. Elori next to him is still snoring away, the matress somehow slipped away during the night, he's lying on the naked floor.
"Time for a little morning song" Odeon takes the panflute he just found and starts to play, wondering if that spark of musical talent he's had in his younger years is still left in him.
[Stat Modifiers]
[As Players advance Characters gain Status Points]
[Status Points influence the outcome of actions affiliated to the Status]
[When a Check is done the relevant (Status) is always shown in brackets]
Odeon Performance (Charisma) Check (d20): 17+1 = 18
[Example: In this case Odeon gets to add a +1 from his Charisma Stat to the Roll]
Odeon plays an impromptu in the style of Miles Davis. It's an outstanding performance for which he would surely gain much respect, unfortunately no one is around to hear it except the snoring human creature that just barely gets a grasp of the tune as it's senses slowly begin to fade in after the long sleep.
Elori wakes up “Huh?" and rubs his face with both hands "Morning, already?”Odeon smirks as the flute leaves his lips "You ready for some breakfast?"Elori holds his stomach exhaling a "Yeaaaah... I think it's about time..." Elori takes down a bit of the barricade, so they can see outisde.
While Odeon gets some of the ingredients they've found, he peeks out of the window. From what he saw on their way here, the Track station is north east of them. Outside of the window he can see a street sign reading Stadium Blv. And also a Sign Post pointing to the Track Station. They could either follow the sign post and go east along stadium Blv and then afterwards cut north through the City center or they could take the beeline directly, but this would also mean going through other properties, jumping over fences and bushes.He thinks as he removes the chair from the door and walks into the kitchen with the ingredients. He throws away the two green potatoes and starts preparing the rest of them, peeling one of the carrots as well, before turning on the portable gas stove "Still works, niiiiice!". He takes a sip of the Jack Daniels he looted from the cave, at least that trouble was worth something and begins to cook.
Half an hour passes and Odeon returns with two rudimentary plates, whilest eating he turns to Elori, "We need to get to that station, but I'd rather not climb over fences honestly, what do you think?"
Elori thinks for a second. “Yeah, me neither, following the sign post sounds fine to me.”Odeon looks at the "Olly" carving on his glock thinking "Please.. both of us stay alive today..." and tells Elori "Let's hope that those guys that apparently repaired the tracks are reasonable people."
Elori takes one of the two backpacks, it's got a brown camouflage pattern and is empty. He begins stowing the rest of the food they've collected whispering "Thank you... whoever left us this stuff... we'll make good use of it" before putting the backpack on.They go outside, the sky is radiating in a clear blue, the weather is bright and shiny today.Now that there's daylight, they can see some dogs and cats running around on the street, searching for food, they've probably been abandonded a long time ago.Keeping on walking they soon get to a crossing with a golf course, where another sign post guides them to go north. It's basically all just straight ahead to get to the station now.
Odeon sees a garbage can nearby, he doesn't want to know what's inside, but he feels like he should at least run a test, still walking he turns to Elori. "Wait, I havent done this in a while since it's dangerous to do when you live in the forest. Let me see if I can still pull this thing off."
[Odeon casts Firebolt]
An almost head sized ball of flame appears in his palm.You hurl it at the nearest metallic trash can and it explodes on impact leaving a hole half it's size behind, the edges are scorched emitting a orange-red coloured glow. He gets the feeling that one could set objects made out of sturdy wood on fire with three or some casts of this spell and that highly flammable objects will burst in flames instantly if hit by this.
Elori looks at the explosion and says “Impressive.”
Odeon puts up his thumb. "Many thanks fine gentleman."The both of them continue on to the train station, steadily watching their surroundings:
Odeon Perception (Wisdom) Roll (d20): 15
Elori Perception (Wisdom) Roll (d20): 2
Odeon faintly and sporadically hears an engine like purring moise in the direction they're heading, he stays prepared and draws his Glock.
They get the feeling that they're closing in on the city center, since the placement of the surrounding buildings become denser. They get to another crossing with an alley of trees to their right, some kind of park.The faint noises Odeon heard draw nearer and nearer until suddendly he can see a pickup truck coming their way, a man is riding outside on the rear, you can see his head sticking out. Odeon is not sure if they've seen them yet, but shows Elori the approaching possible danger.
Elori sticks out his hand and starts chanting, preparing Thaumgatury "I could distract them."Odeon lifts his glock, steps towards the trees nearby, and start waving as he sees Elori beginning to cast. "HEY, HEY, STOP!". Better not invite any trouble, he thinks "Didn't I lecture him about that yesterday?"
Elori moves over, Odeon puts his glock away after waving and look at what they both hide behind the nearest tree left off the road. Both of them look what the people in the pick up van are up to.
Odeon Stealth (Dexterity) Throw (d20): 15
Elori Stealth (Dexterity) Throw (d20): 15
The van is right about on their height, now they can actually see the guy on the back. He's looking as if he's from african descent, wearing a shower cap and a black nike trainer suite. As the car keeps driving by slowly you can see there's a machine gun mounted on the back. The car windows are dimmed, they cant see who's driving.
He takes another glance at the car thinking "That could be useful... How about I firebolt the shooter and hopefully destroy the gun in the process? Then Elori could fuck up the driver and we get their car... Or maybe we should keep the gun intact?" he shakes his head "On second thought... if they aren't looking for trouble, we'll be making enemies for nothing... and the risk is too grave..."
Both of them are waiting behind the trees for the car to pass by.
[The gunman makes a perception check vs their stealth checks]
...