#plot drop 004.

For two weeks, rumours have occupied the radio frequencies of Devil’s Elbow, some more plausible than others, most of them pointing fingers, all of them desperately trying to make sense of how twenty people can simply disappear without a struggle or a trace of where they might have gone. It’s a few minutes after sunrise, in the gloaming of a new day, august 15th, bringing with it new hopes for some, bitter fears for others. Tucked in the solid embrace of two mountains, Burnington is a city where sound carries, echoed between looming peaks, and the morning brings with it a scream that haunts through its streets before it’s summarily cut off. As neighbours exit buildings to investigate, the singular scream becomes a chorus to greet those who had once been missing, but now unfortunately found. A horde of infected accompanied by radroaches, counting well beyond the twenty missing people, spread through the mountain-bound city like a plague, ripping apart anyone in sight, anyone deemed a threat; with the twenty missing people carrying a precious radroach-load, everyone is deemed a threat. Burnington is not without its protectors, however; within ten minutes, the Silver Lining Militia, the Shamrocks, and the Jackals are cutting through the streets, and turn a new dawn into a bloody battlefield. But bullets and blades won’t work against irradiated sword-steel; humanity long decayed, the most aggressive of the infected is an emaciated, decades old grotesque of immeasurable brutality and unimaginable resilience. Where the rest of the infected are dispatched with calculated teamwork, this particular horror proves harder to kill and more reluctant to die. When the dust finally settles, it’s to the quiet of the dead, the moaning of the injured, and the soothing of their protectors. Even then, the work continues. With the East Atlantic Army finally coming in to take some measure of control over the situation, buildings are sweeped for any survivors with a tell-tale injury to their abdomen, whom are promptly executed, and Burnington’s citizens are tasked, with the aid of the peacekeepers and under guidance of the directors and removal technicians of moore funeral home, to gather the dead and burn them as funeral rites begin.

                                                  PLOT DROP FOUR. THE PLAINS. 

WHEN: July 25th, 1844

WHERE: The desert just outside of Drywell Plains, New Mexico. 

After exiting the first level, the nurses demand that everyone an hour long break outside of the game to cool down and prepare for what’s 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, you’re 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 haven’t actually moved your real body in that time, you feel physically exhausted. You know you won’t be able to do much more than another level before desperately needing a nap. 

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 you’re baking. In the moment that you are blinded by the transition, the smell of dust enters your nostrils. It’s stings, almost like the dust in spicy, but that’s 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. 

Looking at your teammates, you can tell immediately what they’re dressed as: cowboys. Aza even has a shiny sheriff’s 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 that’s in there, but you can have the rest and choose to do with it what you please. He also mentions that there’s something in there that he’s heard rumors of, he isn’t sure what it is, but it’s important the Suggins gang doesn’t get it. 

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. 

                                                                              ***

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. He’s clearly oblivious to your intention to rob the bank. 

But he does offer some key information: if you want to learn anything in this town there’s three people to talk to: the bartender of the Shakedown Saloon, the head showgirl at Christie’s, 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. 

The Saloon is open, and it’s 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 bank’s contents and the Suggins gang. There’s lots of people at the bar, and the bartender doesn’t 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, it’s clear he can’t do it with them around. These men are playing cards and causing a ruckus. You’ve both got money in your inventory, or rather, your sidebags, so maybe these men would be willing to play in exchange for intel. 

The Saloon, however, is not open for business, and won’t be until later in the afternoon. Something tells you you don’t have more than an hour or two before the Suggins gang arrives. So Jess decided that they were getting in no matter what. Enlisting Vanka’s 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 they’re inside it’ll be easy enough to start asking questions. 

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 church’s 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. 

IN CHARACTER TIMEFRAME: Four hours.