Not a bad start to my lab technician. After scrambling to escape the bottom of a mine with some sort of unnatural creature chasing her, Dwana Otero found a fully functional, only slightly damaged cube van outside and about 18 L of fuel in gas pumps nearby. Quite a fine setup to start roaming the countryside.
Syris Shadowwalker, Lab Experiment, Chapter One- A Dismal Start
My name is Syris Shadowwalker. (Allegedly. For all I know, it’s the name the scientists gave me.) It is currently 9:42 AM, and I am lying in bed in the Free Merchants’ refugee center, trying in vain to fall asleep with a mangled right arm and what I strongly suspect is hypovolemic shock.
Before I begin, a bit of background is required. For as long as I can remember (unreliable and patchy as that memory is), I have lived in a government laboratory as one of the many subjects for the scientists’ genetic engineering programs. I was one of the less heavily experimented on, although they seemed quite pleased with my genetics. My only visible sign of mutation is a recently acquired pair of fangs, easily hidden if I refrain from excessive conversation. Recently, however, I was selected to receive a certain genetic alteration. The scientists who oversaw the trial seemed quite excited, claiming that they had made a breakthrough- a mutation that would continually mutate the subject over time! I, and presumably the other subjects, were selected for their strong genetic base, which would allegedly make it more likely for the subject to receive “beneficial” mutations, or at least less likely to mutate in a catastrophic manner.
The scientists never saw the results. The next day, everything went to hell.
Everything that happened that day is still a bit blurry. I remember alarms going off, screaming, the turrets’ continuous gunfire. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t good. I was on the first floor at the time, which probably saved my life. I ran as fast as I could in the approximate direction of the main gate- I’d never seen it, but I had practically memorized the layout of the laboratory from the ever-present maps.
Up the corridor, I saw one of the scientists, facing away from me and slowed, calling out. A moment later, I realized something was very wrong- the gait, the angles were unnatural, jerky. I sped up again in panic, catching only a glimpse- glassy eyes, bloodied torso, right side of the jaw missing as clawed hands reached for me. I lashed out at the thing, knocking it back and running past before it could recover. The main gate was just ahead. It was wide open, the sentry turret cold and lifeless. Had someone else managed to escape? No matter. I passed the threshold, running blindly, not caring where I went as long as it was away, long past the recession of gunfire into the distance.
When I finally stopped to get my bearings, completely exhausted, I realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was, or indeed what direction I had come from. In other words, I was lost. The only thing I could discern was that I appeared to be in the middle of a forest, on a trail. I had never been outside the laboratory before- I realized I didn’t even know what the laboratory looked like from the outside. Even if I could find my way back, I wasn’t exactly planning on going back there anytime soon.
That was when it hit me. I would have to survive on my own from now on- no scientists, no rations, no shelter. As cold and sterile as the laboratory had been, it had always felt safe. I knew the routines, the faces, the layout. Out here, I knew… nothing. I forced myself to keep calm, checking my meager possessions. Some clothes and a bag I had grabbed off the first hangar I saw, and… that was it. Searching the pockets rewarded me with the astonishing bounty of a small, folding knife, a pocket watch, and a single matchbook, which appeared to be intact.
All in all, not a great start.
I sighed and checked the watch. 9:00 AM. I started walking again, following the trail, figuring that I had to get out of this forest before anything else. As it turned out, I was surprisingly close to the edge of the forest, and barely five minutes later, I found myself standing in open grass as far as the eye could see. Scanning the horizon, I found two notable features: what appeared to be a farm to the northeast- I had only ever seen them in books- and a large, brick building to the northwest. I decided to explore the farmhouse first, in hopes of supplies. Not knowing if there could be more monsters like the one I had seen earlier, (had something happened outside as well?), I proceeded warily.
Unfortunately, as I neared the farm I caught sight of a bloody crimson, strangely twisted dog-like creature (that was what dogs looked like, right?). As I watched, it almost seemed to flicker, playing tricks on my eyesight. I hastily backed away before it noticed me. The farmhouse being decidedly out of my possibilities, I instead set off toward the brick building I had seen earlier. Perhaps other people were there? Reaching the building only made me more hopeful- it was surrounded with barbed wire, with intact windows and shutters. Surely, that was a good sign? I walked around the building, noticing a gap in the fence on the left side. Reaching it rewarded me with the sight of a pair of doors, with a statue in between. I walked up to one, took a deep breath, and pushed it open. A guard spun on the other side, before relaxing but remaining in the doorway.
“Name and background?” he demanded.
“Syris,” I said, carefully hiding my fangs. “I was… taking a vacation in the countryside before, , um, you know”, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. I never was very good at lying, but I had a feeling telling him where I was actually from wouldn’t have gone over very well.
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Aren’t you a bit young to have been out here by yourself?”
In truth, I don’t actually know what my age is- all I know is that I have to be somewhere between thirteen and seventeen, anything outside of that range would be ridiculously implausible- but I’m aware I hardly look the part of an adult.
“My parents were with me, but I ran and I don’t know where they went. We lived at… the farmhouse over there!”
His eyes narrowed again. “The one that’s five minutes’ walk from here and looks like it hasn’t been lived in for three weeks.”
I was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was a foot taller than me and had approximately twice my muscle.
He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know who you’re trying to fool here,” he sighed in resignation, “but you look harmless enough. Go ahead and come in.”
For anyone reading this right now, ran out of time and will be continuing shortly. Thanks!
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My latest character is an SI (aside from some mana traits and 1 skill point of Spellcraft, made as close as I can to how I see myself), starting in a LMOE shelter. Got stupendously lucky with my starting spawn though. A water pump inside for infinite water, two evac shelters a couple minutes away to raid for protein rations, and the nearby town has a magic shop and library. Raided the first floor of the magic shop without attracting any zombies, then went back to my shelter to learn all sorts of interesting spells.
Been clearing out the block in between practicing/studying spells, reading books and looting. Got a little cocky in a basement gym though and took my first wound of the week when a surprise zombie grabbed me.
Not quite sure what focus I want to try for though. A bit weak for the Druid’s bow, and rather don’t want to be close enough to need the Stoneshaper’s cestus. Probably go for the Magus’ staff.
Just wanted to explain- I deleted my first post because the content was copied into this one, and it looked weird to have a double. Also edited a bit for consistency. Hope @TwinCrows doesn’t mind me stealing his title system, wanted to compress the post given how long it is.
She did it. She finally did it. Dwana has finally made a makeshift arc welder. And all it took was two weeks, two electronic shops, an Internet café, all the TV’s from a dense urban area, and the noble sacrifice of a beast of an NPC (see below). Man, these proficiencies are sure setting different demands to crafting, but finally she can start working on the cubevan. It can drive, but is pretty banged up, and all she found in the nearby area was one tank of welding gas for the torch, so any battery driven welding is appreciated.
The is not much in interest left in the area (that Dwana could handle), so it is time to tear some military vehicles apart and prepare to set out.
A real shame Melodee had to perish, but she died valiantly. The Internet café had attracted some eyebots, and in the chaos of transferring the electronic parts from the consoles, it took our pictures and summoned at least two riot bots and two police bots. The sedative gas was critical, so Dwana had to get out of it and ran upstars, luring one of the riot bots with her. It took a while, but when she finally took it out and came downstairs, Melodee was dead. But not without taking the rest of the bots with her. Absolutely amazing that she held to allow Dwana a new chance to live.
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After a week of spell studying, I have finally learnt a spell that summons a bow that I CAN’T use.
A bit of context:
It’s been 10 days ever since I’m trapped in a mall. My starting character (not randomized) have exceptional dexterity and perception (11/12), and above average intelligence (10), but mediocre strength (5). So after I found a book filled with that spell, I’m thinking to myself, “Well, I want to try to do archery but with my strength that mean I can’t use most bows beside the brace slingshot I found. But… maybe this magic spell can make my dream comes true”. Turn out I was wrong. It has the same strength requirement of a modern recurve bow. A shame, but at least I can study the spellbook to increase my skill.
I was messing around with helicopters on my character, using them to go to and from refugee center quests. Let me tell you, those things are seriously janky and weird. Cool, but weird.
In any case, I lost two test characters because I ran into a light pole or roof at 220mph because I flew too low. Good thing I got used to actually piloting an air craft before doing so on my main character.
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The map I’m currently playing is a Hellscape of Urban Sprawl, almost entirely city, with a few locations manually added in (and the occasional accompanying glitch, like the flooded area with rooftops not connected to buildings, and the subway station in the middle of a minefield). This world is home to a number of player inhabitants, but there are a few primary ones.
Aura “Disco” Linn, a nomadic mutant cyborg, after a surrounded start, made her base in a nearby garage and spent three seasons building vehicles, exploring, managing her Carnivore trait, fishing (with a large factory longliner, and killing over 34000 zombies, before her mutations forced her to become a homebody, doing nothing all day but reading magic books because she’s too depressed to do any work, and her Narcoleptic trait makes leaving the base dangerous. Early on she reached the threshold for Chimera, but couldn’t find Chimera serum or a recipe for it. Shortly after, her mutations shifted to an extremely dominant Slime category, and dozens of various serums have yet to break the hold it has on her. So for the moment she’s mostly abandoned.
Yuki Akano was a targeted beast mutant, who spawned near Aura, and died 5 days later when she was flanked by a Corrosive while taking on a mob that included 3 Skeletal Juggernauts. She survived and killed the Corrosive, but was rendered unable to fight back against the rest of the mob.
Xiao Mei is what Aura was meant to be. Starting off in a mall, she also made her base in a garage after fighting through the mob in the mall. At first she reached the threshold for Tortoise, but Tortoise serums seem to be non-functional, while 3 Chimera serums took her post-threshold. She’s built a mini tank base to sleep in and explore, recruited the one NPC so far who hasn’t run screaming from her, and is set to go off in search of more bionics and mutagens. She has a ridiculous set of mutations, but so far is still very functional. She’s currently the main character.
I was inspired by Prustan’s post to make a self-insert character (except for gender). Thus Jacie “Leaky” Plummer was born. Like me, she has lots of knowledge, and some martial arts training (judo and ninjutsu), but also has multiple disabilities. So her body is weak (24HP), she has low stamina, and a long list of negative traits. But she can also hold her own in a fight as long as she doesn’t get winded. And I live in a rural area, so she spawned on a lighthouse island (which didn’t have a whole lot of supplies, apart from 4 copies of How To Succeed In Business), but did have a handy spring suit (handy because there was no boat). She started with strong skills in computers and electronics (I studied computer engineering in college), survival, cooking, first aid, bashing, cutting, melee, a couple of levels of mechanics (I don’t know cars much, but I know bikes very well), fabrication, pistols, and archery, but none in speaking or bartering, due to social anxiety. Once again, she’s found a garage to use as her base (the right type of garage makes one of the best urban bases).
Her traits:
- Animal Empathy
- Bad Back
- Bad Knees
- Bookworm
- Clumsy
- Fast Learner
- Fast Reader
- Fragile
- High Adrenaline
- Insomniac
- Jittery
- Languorous
- Martial Arts Training
- Optimist
- Outdoorsman
- Packmule
- Pain Sensitive
- Poor Hearing (I’m almost completely deaf in one ear, the other is around 80% of normal function)
- Poor Mana Regeneration
- Poor Mana Sensitivity
- Self-Aware
- Self Defense Classes
- Sleepy (yes, sleepy and insomniac, a fun combination)
- Slow Footed
- Slow Healer
- Squeamish (I have issues with second hand clothing, dirty or not)
- Substance Tolerance
- Sweet Tooth
- Thin-Skinned
- Truth Teller
- Weak Stomach
- Weight XXL (would consider myself XL, not XXL)
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So, Syris Shadowwalker is dead, from an ill-advised attempt to take down three bandits with his pistol. I just wanted to say that I write these logs for fun, while still a relatively inexperienced player, so it’s very much possible that a character I write about will die an early, tragic death, which makes me feel quite silly. To mitigate this, I’ve decided not to write about a character until I’m confident that they’re in a position to survive a while at least. That being said, here’s a log about my new character, who’s doing quite well. Enjoy!
Jimmy Buchanan, Would-Be Wizard: Chapter One
Jimmy got out of the city early, before everything was overrun, and found his way to the Free Merchants’ Refugee Center. On the way, he picked up an intriguing pamphlet which contained a number of magic spells…
(You can’t see it on here, but Jimmy also has Weight: XXL, which equals Morbidly Obese.)
I look at the products of my exploration and grin. As a non-refugee, I’m technically not allowed to take any supplies, but the Free Merchants don’t keep as close a watch on their belongings as they think they do. In the last ten minutes, I’ve taken three sewing kits, a pair of scissors, a dust mask, two bottles of hydrogen peroxide, a teapot, a bag of insecticide, and a bottle of salt water. The rations and more important supplies were too tightly guarded for me to risk it, unfortunately, but I should be able to trade some of the items that won’t be missed to the merchant for something useful.
First, though, I decide to get to know the other inhabitants of the center better. I chat with several refugees for a while. Their stories are fairly similar- they worked white-collar jobs, as acquaintances, coworkers, or friends- when they realized it was time to get out while they still could, they saw the benefits of traveling with a group and decided to work together, pooling supplies. Since none of them could fight well, they became a faction of traders, recompensing better equipped and more adventurous survivors for supplies and clothing. A few ask me for favors, if I ever go out myself- a lifelong smoker who requests a few packs of cigarettes, if I can find them, a musician who broke his guitar using it to club zombies and wants a replacement, a woman who offers to pay for any antiseptic that I find, stating that they’re low on medical supplies, a guy dressed in a dinosaur suit who seems to have a few screws loose, and who wants cardboard boxes to build a fort because, and I quote, “the zombies are terrified of cardboard”. I got away from him pretty quickly.
The resident merchant had the most intriguing request: Clear the locked back bay of zombies, and put down the former leader of the Free Merchants, Sean McLaughlin, in exchange for Free Merchant currency. He explained that before they knew how zombies were created, they had used it as a sick bay- when a patient died during the night, they rose again as undead, rampaging through the bay before anyone noticed. The victims turned as well, threatening the rest of the center. Their leader had been one of the casualties, and he rose as something different- a zombie that wielded electricity like a mage. In a moment of panic, the refugees had barricaded the bay shut, locking the zombies and anyone still alive in. Casting a dubious eye over my physique, he suggested that I enlist the other refugees to aid me. I told him I would see what I could do.
Now that that’s over, I decide to take a closer look at the pamphlet I picked up earlier.
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAGIC, it proclaims in bold letters.
It’s really quite thin, but as I flip through it I notice that it really does include a few low-level spells, with illustrations and instructions. I never did learn how to use magic, but it was more due to never having had time than anything else. Now, though, I hardly have anything better to do, and having a functional knowledge of magic could be useful. I pick a spell that seems straightforward and useful, Magic Missile. I study the spell for a length of time, until I feel that I know enough to cast it. According to the book, the spell requires only a gesture from the caster at the desired target, and a few arcane syllables, spoken with intent to harm.
Armed with new knowledge, I go to organize the refugees for an assault on the bay. Three agree to help me: a guard with a gun and the experience to use it, and two others armed with knives.
I explain that I’ll be staying out of the fighting, given my lack of a weapon and likely ineptitude in combat. Although they’re slightly annoyed they’ll be doing all of the work, they understand. Since I won’t be doing anything else, we agree it’s only fair that I be the one to break down the bay’s door. I go look for something to bash down the door with, but come up only with a bathroom scale. Ignoring the amused looks coming my way, I walk back to the door with the scale and try to break it down… “try” being the operative word in this case, given my less-than-impressive strength and the ineffectiveness of my weapon. After a few minutes, I’m wheezing for breath, and have to sit down to rest for a moment. The others are snickering behind my back.
Okay, this obviously isn’t working. I think for a moment, and remember that I saw a few zombies outside… perhaps they have something that I can work with better? It’s worth a try.
I exit the center and circle around until a single zombie comes into my sight, stumbling as it walks. I wait for it to come into range, then speak the words of the spell as I channel my loathing for the walking corpse into a physical force of harm. A brilliant violet projectile streaks from my fingers towards the zombie, striking it to… no visible effect, although it stumbles for a moment.
Clearly, my familiarity with the spell is still too superficial for it to cause much damage. Still, this is good practice. I incant again and again, flicking my wrist as each projectile strikes. I’m brought out of my concentration as my next spell sputters and goes out- I try again, to the same result. It seems I’ve exhausted my reserves of magic for the day, although I was expecting them to last a bit longer. The zombie still seems mostly unharmed.
I leisurely walk back towards the center, grinning when I see it can only barely keep up with me. Being alive has its perks. As the zombie lurches through the entrance just behind me, it’s quickly dispatched by the guards. A cursory search of the body reveals a fully loaded Glock 19- I’ve always been something of a gun enthusiast, even if I don’t actually know how to handle one- which I claim for the raid on the bay. I grin. Having a gun will certainly help my chances, even if I don’t know how to use one very well.
I go back to the bay door with my new pistol in hand, and use it instead to break down the door- surprisingly, after several forceful strikes, the door begins showing cracks, and it’s a trivial task from there to bring it down completely.
The first thing I see as the door comes down is the electrical zombie that the merchant had mentioned before- he had called it a “shocker”. It’s wreathed in lightning, tendrils darting out every few seconds. My eyes widen, and I sprint back towards my allies, though not before being caught in a painful arc of electricity the creature sends my way. I grit my teeth, ducking around the corner.
The guard is ready as the Free Merchants’ former leader rounds the corner behind me- she fires once, twice, thrice and it falls. The other zombies funnel through the door, and are dispatched in turn. The resolution is surprisingly anticlimactic.
As I search the corpses, I find a dirty backpack and wear it, grimacing- I do need storage space, and I don’t have the resources wash it right now.
Diego, the merchant, seems slightly bemused, although unsurprised, that I barely contributed, but rewards me with twenty-five Free Merchant notes anyway. In addition, he gives me cursory training on handgun usage at my request- I feel confident enough now to not shoot myself on accident, at least.
I trade ten notes, two of the sewing kits, and my two spare pairs of gloves for fifty rounds of ammunition for my gun, a hacksaw, circular saw, cordless drill, an almost-full matchbook, permanent marker, angle grinder, and flashlight. An eclectic selection, yes, but they might come in useful in the future, and I felt that I should spend the notes on something. Afterwards, he asks my help with another task:
I don’t think I’m up to dealing with this yet, but I agree to investigate when I can.
The corpses are dragged outside, into the bushes- the Free Merchants don’t have the resources to give the former refugees a proper burial. I grab a bottle of cranberry juice from the pantry while everyone’s distracted, stuffing it in my new backpack.
Afterwards, I decide to study my book of magic some more. I should make use of it, after all. I learn two new spells: Phase Door, a short-range teleportation, and Magical Light, which is self-explanatory, then go out to practice casting Magic Missile on the zombies outside. When my mana reserves inevitably run out again, I once more lure the zombies back to the center for the guards to deal with- they don’t seem to mind.
I loot a pack of cigarettes for that guard, and a local tourist guide, off the bodies. I help the guards drag the corpses into the bushes, then go back in and scan the guide.
It has some useful information- while not a complete map of the area, it shows the layout of the nearby towns and some points of interest.
I work on improving my current spells until dusk, feeling that I’ve made significant progress in my understanding of Magic Missile- it seems that casting the spell really did help. I drink my cranberry juice as a reward.
With my new understanding of the spell, I realize that Magic Missile can actually be cast through walls or windows, simply passing through inanimate targets- I test this out by dispatching the zombies outside through the reinforced glass, as they claw at it in futility. This time, the impact areas seem to warp and distort as the projectiles strike, accompanied by an apparent increase in the spell’s effectiveness, which is welcome.
I go out to destroy the corpses to prevent them reviving; on the way out, the doctor calls me over.
I’m conveniently able to draw blood from one of the corpses outside, although I’m doubtful about my chances of safely making it to a hospital. I take a sharpened stick that one of the zombies had been carrying as an improvised weapon. I return to the center, dropping my belongings in one of the newly available bay lockers and taking a few clothes from the bay as spares.
I go to tell the merchant that I’m going to go see if I can retrieve some supplies under the cover of nightfall- I’ve always had unusually good night vision. He understands, warning me to be careful because they won’t be able to help me if I’m injured. The safest thing to do would be to simply stay inside the center, but I don’t have that option given the Free Merchants aren’t sharing their supplies with me. I take my gun and head out.
Jimmy Buchanan, Would-Be Wizard: Chapter Two
I arrive at the outskirts of the town a little early. It’s not quite dark yet, and I can see zombies wandering around at the edge of my sight range. I backtrack a bit and kill some time studying my spellbook, although I’m rudely interrupted by a zombie, which I lure through the brush and destroy. With the fall of darkness, I head into town.
The first house I come to, in the outskirts, is fenced in, and the door is barricaded shut- I find the gate to the garden as I walk around the perimeter. The shed doesn’t have anything interesting- a broken lawnmower and a pair of shears. There’s a back door, but it appears to be blocked off by bookcases, so I can’t get in that way either. I walk back around to the front to see if I’ve missed anything- unfortunately, my noise seems to have attracted a few zombies. I dispose of them quickly, using the sharpened stick from earlier as a weapon- fat as I am, I’m still much more agile than a walking corpse, and they don’t even try to dodge.
I frown. There’s no feasible way in. Whoever barricaded the house did a good job. Whether or not there’s someone alive in there (which I highly doubt), it’s not worth it. I move on.
I quickly dispatch another zombie on the way to the next house- a search reveals a bottle of apple cider and a bag of almonds, both of which I take. In addition, they’re carrying an advertisement for a local gun store- a lead, perhaps?
I grimace before smashing in the window of the next house- louder than I’d like, but the door is locked. As I explore, I come across a pair of zombies. One of them is geared in military equipment. A former soldier, perhaps? Here?
My attacks barely scratch the soldier through its armor, it’s fast, and I’m getting tired- a change of plans is in order. I drop the stick and teleport a few steps away, hitting the zombie with a few Magic Missiles and teleporting over the fence of the previous house. I carefully back into the garden, trying not to attract attention.
I look around and spot a drainpipe leading up the side of the house. I climb up it- I’m more athletic than you’d think. Safe on the roof, I let out a sigh of relief.
I rest for a while, catching my breath. I’ll need to deal with the soldier eventually, but for now I relax. I click on my flashlight and study my book of spells- no need to waste time, and I’ll need to be in practice for later. My magic missiles seemed to deal some damage earlier, piercing through the thing’s armor, so that seems to be my safest option.
I study my Phase Door spell for half an hour on the roof, smiling as I hear the zombie trying to find me below. I click off my flashlight and carefully descend the east side of the roof, then circle around, wincing as I have to walk through a blackberry bush. I cautiously step inside the house, which appears to have been broken into by the soldier zombie. It lunges at me, taking me by surprise, but I recover my wits in time to dodge and gain some distance from it.
I conjure a stream of brilliant missiles as it chases after me, around the house- this time, I can easily outpace it, maneuvering through the garden’s various obstacles. It finally collapses after being struck by several missiles.
I gleefully strip the corpse, and am not disappointed with my findings. A full set of military armor, a military-issue rifle with seven rounds, two military rations, a canteen containing clean water, a lightweight, deadly combat knife, and a compact backpack, albeit all somewhat dirty. I’ll have to find a way to clean them off when I can. Still, this is a magnificent discovery. I take off my current backpack and wear the military one instead- at least it’s no worse, and more lightweight. I wear the ballistic vest as well- I might need the protection.
Since the zombie so kindly broke into the original house for me, I decide to see if there’s anything interesting here after all- on the floor, I find an unloaded single-barrel shotgun and take it, also grabbing some multivitamins and gummies from the bathroom. I descend the stairs to the basement and immediately regret it- as I reach the bottom, I am greeted with a nausea-inducing sight.
Before I can react, the frog-thing flicks out its tongue and pulls me next to it. I frantically drop the shotgun and phase away. I fire a few missiles at the frog, although they don’t seem to do much damage.
This doesn’t look good. I need to get out of here. I teleport again, fumbling a few castings- why oh why did I not practice Phase Door more- the frog spawns even more tadpoles as I draw my gun. I phase around the room, the frogs attacking me each time I land, before I manage to land near the stairs. I make a break for it, reaching the staircase, but am quickly surrounded. I’m viciously struck as I attempt to ascend the stairs (those tentacles have a surprising amount of force behind them)- I fling the things away and sprint up the staircase. As I back away, three tadpoles erupt upwards.
My focus is shot. I manage a single teleportation, which only takes me a few steps away. The tadpoles surround me again, closing in for the kill. Just as I begin to wonder if this is the day I will die, they mercifully dissolve into thin air.
They must have been some form of magical construct, to have dissipated like that- I remember how they had seemed to be evaporating, earlier. I’m besides myself with relief. I wait a nervous moment, but nothing else follows.
Well, now I’ve really done it.
Pain: Severe
Although the ballistic vest protected my torso to a remarkable degree, my limbs are cut and bruised, my left arm’s broken, and the pain’s making it hard to think. If anything finds me like this, I’m toast. I quickly grab a few beverages and a yogurt from the refrigerator in passing, then hurry out the window. I need to get out of here, now.
…Speak of the devil.
I phase to the other side of the fence, throwing the zombie off for a while, and managing to escape before it can figure out what happened. Luckily, I never left the outskirts, and I’m quickly a safe distance away.
Five minutes later…
“What do you mean, you don’t sell medical supplies!?” I demand.
The merchant shrugs helplessly.
“We barely have enough supplies for ourselves- we can’t afford to treat someone who isn’t part of the Free Merchants. I warned you that you’d be on your own.”
“Fine!” I hiss in frustration, walking away. It’s clear that I’ll get nothing more out of the man.
I attempt to treat myself with a first aid kit I find…
I’m internally fuming, but clearly outnumbered here. I drop the first aid kit.
I drop off the products of the trip in my locker. Clearly, I won’t have access to medical supplies, but I might be able to create a substitute. Discreetly taking a clean blanket from the bay and cutting it into pieces, I trim the edges and apply the “bandages” to my injuries. A few people raise their eyebrows when they catch sight of me, but don’t object. Now for the real problem: my broken arm.
I could probably craft some sort of makeshift splint, but at the moment I’m not sure how. I sigh- I’m too exhausted for this. I go to sleep for now.
In the continuing saga of Jacie Plummer, Jacie recruited a follower. But when she went off scavenging vehicle parts, leaving him guarding the base, she returned the next morning to find his rotting corpse next to that of a giant cockroach. So that was short-lived.
She’s also discovered that any corrosive-type zombie can really mess up her day. Luckily, 25 hp (she’s gained a few points of strength) doesn’t take long to heal.
She found a few somewhat useful bionics. She’s so far found few electronics stores, and no labs at all (not even a microlab) (in fact, there isn’t much of anything, really, in her neighbourhood…decent vehicle parts, weapons, and ammo have all been as scarce as CBMs), so they’ve been hard to find, but at least she’s come across a soporific inducer to help with her insomnia, and 3 electromagnetic units. She’s also harvested a few decent ones from corpses, but has yet to find an autoclave. Then she went looking for an autodoc to install them.
She found a functional one in a nearby hospital, and spent a few days clearing the zombies out. But when she returned a few days later to build some walls and secure an operating room, she found the hospital on fire, with no indication as to the cause. She hastily converted a nearby ambulance into a fire tanker truck, with parts salvaged from one with a dead engine, and proceeded to attack the blaze, but it was all for naught–the building was a complete loss. On the plus side, she did learn a fair bit about fire suppression in the game, and also raised her skill in launchers from level 1 to level 12.
She’s found another hospital up-river, though it’s much further away, but she was too tired by then to attempt to clear it.
After watching ‘Rycon Roleplays’ latest episode of Luna’s Tale, and how badly she got wasted by a demon spider I decided my Self Insert character needed to get better spells. Point Flare is not a spell to use against something so fast, especially since it’s rather fire resistant. But, in order to get new spells, I needed to find a magical location, and the local office block seemed like it would give a decent vantage point.
As luck would have it, after fighting and looting my way to the roof, I did see a very interesting sight off in the distance. A magic academy, 31 map squares away. Through a densely populated city. Somehow managed it, and without damaging my bicycle as well. Not looking forward to hauling all my loot home though, probably best to eat my way through the perishable food while studying my new spells, just so I don’t try moving everything.
Jacie has experienced some ups and downs. She’s survived to summer. Her second hospital venture met with success, and she was able to secure an operating room and install all her sterile bionics. She still has yet to find an autoclave. In her travels up and down the river, she discovered the first military bunker and first military outpost found in this world, and at long last has found a lab entrance. She also picked up her first broken limb on the first day of summer, courtesy of a shocker that was hiding around a corner. After having it splinted by the autodoc, then waiting 45 days for it to set and start healing, I gave up and debugged it to 1 hp. Doing nothing but sleeping, eating, and reading for a month and a half gets really tedious, even if she did spice it up a bit by doing it all naked. With little else to do, she spent that time studying magic, getting a few spells to high level, and also battling a cold for 3 weeks.
It was almost all over for Jacie. The lab she found connected to two others via a subway system, one of which has a research facility above-ground. After exploring most of that lab, she decided to brave the flaming eyes and explore a bit of the research facility in search of an elusive copy of SICP, and also get a good view of the surrounding area from the rooftop. Unfortunately, on the second floor from the top, she took a hit to the torso from an invisible mi-go scout that left her with 1hp. She got out of there fast. Although her wounds were completely healed by the time she finished hauling her lab loot back to her boat, she decided that, on the whole, a research facility is a bit too dangerous for her currently. Returning to base, I found her ESAPI ballistic vest on the desk by her bed, which explains why she took so much damage. Not only was she without armour, she was completely topless. Guess it’s really lucky she’d just gotten a Torso Alloy Plating CBM installed.
Jacie finally has an autoclave. Raiding a military base northwest of the hospital for ammo and gear, she found several autoclaves in the infirmary, along with a pile of anesthetic, and took a couple with her back to base. Her lab explorations have produced a few CBMs, recipes for several more, and a pile of serums and mutagen recipes. She’s still missing a few high priority bionics though. Her next goals will be to find some superalloy to make head, arms, and legs alloy plating, and acquire large quantities of meat for mutagens. For the former, she’s heading back to the military base first, and barring that, raiding another military base nearby; one of the bases Aura raided has some for sure, if she can’t find any elsewhere. Then, after getting her latest round of bionics installed, she needs to settle on a mutagenic path.
Mind you, ESAPI vest only has an 85% coverage. Which means it will be completely useless 15% of the time.
After a lengthy search followed by a lengthy chase, she managed to take down a moose, only to have all 341 chunks of meat rot before they had time to freeze.
Quick tip: when you kill something big and can’t butcher right away, field dress the corpse ASAP. It reduces the rate at which it goes bad. Also unless it’s been changed, I’m pretty sure rotten meat works fine for making mutagen.
I’ll try that in the future, and see if it makes enough of a difference. It was about 90 minutes in-game time from kill to freezer, which I figured would be short enough, and the meat was in my freezer for about 5 days before it rotted. The other parts froze fairly quickly, it was only the chunks of meat that rotted.
And nope, rotten meat doesn’t work for mutagens (at least in the version I’m playing) (will verify though, but pretty sure when meat rots while I’m crafting mutagen, it gives a message about missing components).
Anyway, went back out hunting, couldn’t find another moose, but took down a feral pig. Brought it back to base, butchered it, stuck it straight in my lab freezer instead of my kitchen freezer, and started making mutagens right away, and was able to get through it all.