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CapitalChoice

We continue our story at the crashed Chuppe spacecraft, still exploring and ruins and trying to awaken Bookie who had touched one of the machines and collapsed into unconsciousness . While waiting, the group discovered some readouts and maps on the various displays, and while they could not understand a lot of the information, they updated their maps with what they could decipher. This ship was part of something much larger but what they still had no idea what.

Over time, while they explored, and Decimus tinkered with the truck they had commandeered earlier, searching for the source of a niggling problem, a terrible sense of doom swept over the group, growing over time. 

Bookie choose this moment to awaken, but it was soon obvious he was no longer in control of his own mind, or even if his mind still existed. Touching the machine in the ship had initiated some sort of transfer processes by the ship Mind, the brain or computer that once controlled it, moving it to Bookies mind and overwriting what was there before.

The ship Mind didn't seem to be particularly sentient, more just a large database than anything, but as long as you could understand the Chuppe language (and some of the party could) you could converse with the .

The remnant mind Residing in the head of Bookie, former party member

The feeling of doom overwhelmed the group and they didn't get a chance to examine this the new "Bookie" for long nor find the source of the problem that was plaguing the Truck before they had to flee the crash site. Soon after, perhaps only escaping by minutes, a new glowing shooting star came crashing down from above and obliterated the crashed ship. Someone obviously didn't want people to exploit it's secrets.

After some discussion, and exploring the new map, the group decided head for the capital city, being the closest city they could reach and more likely to have people and supplies.

They hadn't been on the road (such that it was) for long before they stumbled across a crash truck similar in design to the one they were driving. By the looks of it, this was one of the other trucks that had fled the destroyed base days earlier. Stopping to see if they could find parts and supplies, but wary of a trap, they discovered it was indeed, a trap.

E^clame magicians and archers held the ridge overlooking the road while the large giants of Kami's ilk charged them along the valley floor. If there were any doubt that these two groups worked together there was none now. The giants, named as "Chuppe Immortals" after Kami, although what their true name was no one knew, proved to be difficult targets. Their magical tattoos that marked their bodies seemed to prevent a lot of physical damage, and their massive size meant that even a glancing blow proved painful.

Even worse the party was in a crossfire, with arrows and magical bolts raining down from above while surrounded by the giant Immortals.

While it took some time, eventually the party got the upper hand by first tinkering with the spotlights on the abandoned vehicle, blinding and all but removing the E^clame on the ridge from the battle, and then concentrating on the individual Immortals on the valley floor (and driving over one of them, though they did drive over one of their own too so that was sort of a draw).

A close call, but eventually the Immortals lay slain and the E^clame fled, unable to destroy the light or otherwise get see properly to affect the battle.

Our group mechanic proceeded to loot the truck of everything not nailed down. Luckily too, since their original truck choose this moment to sputter to a stop and die.

Some more investigation and they realized that almost all the fuel cells of the truck had been all replaced with grape jelly from a ration kit (and likely sold on the black market months ago). The fuel system had been jury-rigged to show the fuel as FULL but in fact they group had been living on borrowed time.

Still, the second truck had several usable fuel cells and they refueled and continued on their way.

Arriving at the capital Durim, the party choose not to go to the Military HQ and report the destruction of their base, but rather went off to find a cup of coffee.

Having no money, this plan changed to selling some of the junk they had collected over the last few days which proved successful although their night of partying was short lived when a random military patrol checking ID's discovered they appeared to be deserters and they were placed under guard and taken to a military officer in charge.

Apparently social skills were not the groups main focus, and some confusing explanations later, the officer just placed them in the "too hard" basket and sent them off to a holding camp while he checked out their story.

Despite a wealth of expired military rations, a nice tent and a bucket of water to drink, the party decided it was time to escape and find a vehicle mounted weapon (for some reasons that were not adequately explored)

Causing a distraction by poisoning the water source with an aggression elixir, half the group escaped the camp and explored the base a bit looking for a machine shop or weapons storage which they proceeded to try and enter. While their story was good, their luck was abysmal and they couldn't convince the guard to let them in, and instead proceeded to try and arrest them, which they proceeded to try and sort of resist.

The whole short-lived prison break ended with some of the group returned to the camp, some escaping over the roofs with various bullet holes in them and others just sauntering off since no one had noticed them.

This split our party into two groups, the free ones returning to the cafe they had been found in initially to enjoy a quite evening meal and a beer (and assumedly bleeding all over the upholstery), and the others back in the camp, enjoying expired military rations, a small tent and some muddy water from the only water source not poisoned.

The peace was not to last long however, and it seemed as if the marks and lines on the maps in the crashed ship actually meant something. Streaks of falling stars filled the skies, raining down on the city. Thousands upon thousands of green crystals crashed into the ground around them, and where the crystals fell, plants magically sprung up, tendrils grabbing people around them, trees erupting poisoned gasses and strange plants covered with toothy mouths that bit at anything they could reach.

And in the shadows, things moving, muttering,  human forms shaped by the tendrils of a vine....