PLOT DROP FOUR. THE PLAINS.Â
WHERE: The desert just outside of Drywell Plains, New Mexico.Â
After exiting the first level, the nurses demand that everyone an hour long break outside of the game to cool down and prepare for whatâs next. They took your readings, talked to you about how you were feeling, and had you eat and drink at the makeshift craft service table. With the nurses buzzing around you it was difficult to get a private conversation in with your other team members. And before you know it, youâre back laying on your bed with the nodes on your forehead. This will be your second and last level of the day. Apparently, the last one took five hours to complete and despite how you havenât actually moved your real body in that time, you feel physically exhausted. You know you wonât be able to do much more than another level before desperately needing a nap.Â
When you enter the second level of the game the first thing you notice is the light. Bright sunlight blares down on you from overhead, making you feel like youâre baking. In the moment that you are blinded by the transition, the smell of dust enters your nostrils. Itâs stings, almost like the dust in spicy, but thatâs just how iron-filled, dry dirt hits the nose. You are standing on the edge of a dirt road in the middle of a grassland. It looks parched by drought. Only a few scraggly trees dot the horizon, and in the distance you can see stacks of red rock mountains like those of Sedona.Â
Looking at your teammates, you can tell immediately what theyâre dressed as: cowboys. Aza even has a shiny sheriffâs star pinned to her chest. A few of you are on horseback, but some are on foot. Everyone looks around expectantly, and watches as a stagecoach approaches from the left. When it reaches you, it stops, and an older blonde gentleman peeks out. He asks if you are the band of robbers he hired, and you say yes. From there he begins to tell you of your mission: go into the town of Drywell Plains and rob their bank before the Suggins gang can get there. He wants a small cut of the money thatâs in there, but you can have the rest and choose to do with it what you please. He also mentions that thereâs something in there that heâs heard rumors of, he isnât sure what it is, but itâs important the Suggins gang doesnât get it.Â
Whether you choose to Robin Hood the rest of the money is up to you. But first you have to make your way into town and figure out a way into the bank vault.Â
                                       ***
When the team first arrives in town, people watch them from the windows with a fearful suspicion. When the deputy of Drywell Plains exists the jail and approaches you, his expression softens as the sight of Aza, particularly the silver star gleaming on her chest. He expresses relief that the new sheriff is in town, and with a troupe of hired guns to keep them safe from the Suggins gang. Heâs clearly oblivious to your intention to rob the bank.Â
But he does offer some key information: if you want to learn anything in this town thereâs three people to talk to: the bartender of the Shakedown Saloon, the head showgirl at Christieâs, and Mr. William Jarvis, the blonde man you rode into town with, who happens to be the former owner of the bank and the richest person in Drywell Plains.Â
The Saloon is open, and itâs doors swing as people come and go. Eric and Artie have decided to go in and gather as much information as they can about the bankâs contents and the Suggins gang. Thereâs lots of people at the bar, and the bartender doesnât seem interested in talking until you buy a drink and when you bring up Suggins gang, he looks over at a table of customers with a leery expression. Whatever he wants to tell you, itâs clear he canât do it with them around. These men are playing cards and causing a ruckus. Youâve both got money in your inventory, or rather, your sidebags, so maybe these men would be willing to play in exchange for intel.Â
The Saloon, however, is not open for business, and wonât be until later in the afternoon. Something tells you you donât have more than an hour or two before the Suggins gang arrives. So Jess decided that they were getting in no matter what. Enlisting Vankaâs help Jess thinks it would be easy enough to climb up the building to the second floor and go in through the window to the room where the showgirls get ready. Once theyâre inside itâll be easy enough to start asking questions.Â
Meanwhile, Devon and Aza have decided to take the horses, a mirror, and a telescope loaned to them by the deputy and head to the cliffside overlooking the town. That way they can keep an eye out for the Suggins gang and hopefully alert the crew if they see the gang approaching from a distance. All you have to do is keep an eye out for their signal: flashing light on the churchâs steeple. That means to get to the bank and break in, depending on the information you acquire and how soon you notice the signal it could either be a breeze or a bloody fight.
THE OBJECTIVE: Get to Drywell Plains and begin investigating how to get into the vault.Â
IN CHARACTER TIMEFRAME: Four hours.
OUT OF CHARACTER TIMEFRAME: ~Two weeks.