[Tecumseh]

Welcome back, Zweiblumen. I'm hoping to wrap up the Ace/Sam/Ohanzee scene within the next day or two so that they can get back to camp. Then we can reincorporate Doc/Chino/Katsina.

ICly, the two groups are too far apart for their comms to communicate with each other. (This is due both to distance and to signal fade from the trees and the weather.) You can probably pick up garbled transmissions from each other but not clear communication. So Doc could tell that Ace tried to transmit something but couldn't get the exact message. (Doc's response is fine and doesn't need to be updated.)

[rednblack]

I'm assuming Hardware would be a good skill to roll to see if Ace would know that the distance they're at would cause comms to fail.

LOG+Hardware (Ace know distance stunts comms?): 7d6t5 2

Ok, so Ace won't be terribly worried, but he will want to head back to camp.  Did the trio finish with the traps and snares?

Looking forward to hearing from Ohanzee about what he hell those things were.

[Tecumseh]

Ace would know that direct commlink-to-commlink connections are only possible with 500 meters or so. Ideal conditions (flat desert, open ocean) could stretch that out, but current conditions are far from ideal. Given the density of the trees and the weather, he figures that you could probably get a signal once you're within 200-250 meters. So, no, he wouldn't necessarily be concerned about the garbled signal.

Ohanzee already whiffed on his test to identify the creatures, so the best of his knowledge they are sasquatches. Bloodthirsty, dual-natured sasquatches.

You can finish setting the traps and snares and be back to camp within an hour or so.

[rednblack]

Ok.  Thanks.  Updated IC to reflect new info.  Ace is going to use his cyber spur to make sure the downed ones are dead.  He'll feel around until he finds the neck, and try to make a clean cut by feel to the jugular.  Once he does so, do they stay invisible?

[Tecumseh]

Upon closer examination, they are not invisible. They have some sort of natural camouflage that's incredibly effective at concealing them, like an octopus or a chameleon. The effect very much reminds Ace of a chameleon suit, but natural instead of technological.

As such, they remain concealed (but not invisible) even after death.

We'll consider them dead unless one of the others objects or stops Ace ICly.

[Zweiblumen]

Does Doc still have any recording gear?  Like what he used for Chino's Chip?  I'm guessing that would have come up in the equipment list previously, but maybe it's implanted and we've not checked for it.  If so, once Kat starts to explain it, he'll ask if he can record it.

[Tecumseh]

I have posted for Katsina's Imbloc festival, which I stole from the internet. There were multiple versions, many radically different - Wiccans are big on just doing your own thing - so I chose one of the simpler ones. It could have stretched much longer but there's always some trepidation when writing about religious observances other than your own.

I was envisioning the ceremony as a low-Force Circle of Protection ritual, which would take 1 hour and 1 dram of reagents. Technically Katsina has to set up a temporary magical lodge too, so she'll spend 1 hour (and 1 more dram of reagents) doing that too. So 2 hours and 2 drams total.

The circle is broken if anyone leaves, which would happen relatively quickly, so it's more symbolic than anything. I'll roll it out, if only because I don't think I've ever used Ritual Spellcasting in 22 years of playing.

Ritual: Magic 6 + Ritual Spellcasting 6: 12d6t5 5 hits, limit technically 1 but see below
Ritual resist: Ritual Resist: 2d6t5 1 hit
Soaking 2 Drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 6: 12d6t5 5 hits

I suppose this is a situation like low-Force summoning where the Force of the ritual as a limit makes is harder to cast/summon than if you had done so at a higher Force. What's the houserule for that? We'll use that to avoid the silliness. The ritual is a success.

As for cameras, commlinks and cybereyes both include cameras by default. Smartgun systems do too, although it's not exactly trid quality. So, yes, Doc could potentially record the ceremony. That said, Katsina would demur if asked. She would explain, "In Wicca, Imbolc is sometimes seen as a 'women's holiday' with specific rites only for female members of a coven." She wouldn't stop Doc from observing, but recording would make her uncomfortable. Of course, she might not ever know if Doc recorded it with his cybereyes anyway.

It looks like Poindexter is catching up on IC posts but maybe not reading the OOC thread closely. His transmission to Doc doesn't go through. Doc just hears more static.

I was in a rush to do the action sequence while Zweiblumen was out of town, so I inadvertently cut off the big reveal about the burner commlinks that Sam has been leaving behind. Credit goes to rednblack for having Ace refresh the topic.

I'll give the Away team a day to interact and respond to each other, then I'm going to push things back to camp so that we can resume the team's progress together.

[Poindexter]

I was in a rush to do the action sequence while Zweiblumen was out of town, so I inadvertently cut off the big reveal about the burner commlinks that Sam has been leaving behind. Credit goes to rednblack for having Ace refresh the topic.

I quite enjoyed the big reveal and then having to leave it hanging, being dropped right into danger. I feel like that's the way a movie would have done it. It was cool.

[rednblack]

I was in a rush to do the action sequence while Zweiblumen was out of town, so I inadvertently cut off the big reveal about the burner commlinks that Sam has been leaving behind. Credit goes to rednblack for having Ace refresh the topic.

I quite enjoyed the big reveal and then having to leave it hanging, being dropped right into danger. I feel like that's the way a movie would have done it. It was cool.

Yeah, I dug that too.  Once things with the sasquatches has been settled, I think Ace will bring it up on the hike home, unless Sam gets to it first.

[Tecumseh]

My biggest concern was basically the nature of PbP, which is, "will anyone remember what we were posting about two weeks ago?" Many clues have potential plot points have been lost thusly, although less so with this group than with others.

Someone go ahead and bring up the topic of the commlinks just to get things moving.

As for the sasquatches, Ace could potentially record some footage to show Doc, but given the conditions (dark) and the subject matter (camouflaged) it might not show up well. Biometric samples are another option.

[rednblack]

Looks like Sam wants to save one, so Ace will ziptie that sucka, and have Sam -- most likely due to size -- pack it back to camp.

[Tecumseh]

That's probably a multi-man job. Depending on which one you pick (#3 is the smallest, #2 the largest and deadest) you'll most likely be dragging them back. The loose, powdery snow will make it that much harder. Ohanzee's Levitate is path of least resistance. The spell needs 3 hits for #1 or #2, or 2 hits for #3.

Ace is even concerned about the efficacy of the zip ties. It would be like putting a zip-tie on Sam, and these things have claws, as evidenced by the large wound on Sam.

[Poindexter]

Sam dun wanna save one exactly. He just dun wanna hurry it along the path. He'd like to see if anything interesting happens before then, y'know?

Maybe the others will come back or something. Who knows?

[rednblack]

Sam dun wanna save one exactly. He just dun wanna hurry it along the path. He'd like to see if anything interesting happens before then, y'know?

Maybe the others will come back or something. Who knows?

Like post up and use one for bait?

[Tecumseh]

IC post is up. I moved things back to camp so get the whole team back together. Any burner commlink discussion would be better in a group anyway.

Sam has collapsed. Let me know what your IC actions are.