Simple Man

*Simple Man* is the title of the eighth episode of the first season of Blood in the North and the eighth session of the entire game.

This session was played on February 2nd, 2020

## Plot

Roger explains what really happened at the zoo.

## Synopsis

Roger awakens to a knock on his door. He answers to see Scarab standing there. They exchange pleasantries and get to work. Roger mentions that they will need to go to the Warehouse soon. She understands and goes to the group to discuss. He finishes his morning routine then heads to the amusement area to meet back up with Scarab. She finishes her conversation with Hiro and follows Roger to Indomalaya. They talk a bit about where Roger was from since he is clearly from the states. He is from Kentucky and actually has a veterinarian degree from there. He was transferred up here because he was particularly good with more exotic species. It leads to the question… what happened here? He sits down and begins his story.

*Roger is a simple handler just trying to make it through another day at work. He is in his own head and misses his queue to come out to the stage and is belittled by the office bully, Hal, about it immediately after. He didn’t do anything wrong he was just a bit slow. His friend Stacy tries to reassure him and it does enough to end any hostility that might come up. Later that night, Roger is cleaning one of the pens when he hears someone approaching behind him. It’s Stacy who is just letting him know she’s leaving for the night and wanted to invite him out with some of the other keepers for some drinks. He is so shocked by the invite that he forgets to close the pen. This allows the leopard to creep out and get away. He sprints after her and is able to get her back to her pen before she can harm anyone but Hal is watching on. The man waits until Roger starts to leave the pen before locking him in and warning him to not mess up his show again. Roger is able to calm the Leopard enough that she is not hostile and he is able to get out. He goes to find Stacy but she is nowhere in sight. He calls it for the night.*

*The next morning Roger is summoned to the boss’ office and is demoted to janitor due to his mistake. He can’t allow that kind of issue falling back on him. Roger understands and turns in his badge. He is caught by Hal as he’s leaving and the man mocks him once again. He laughs and walks away. Roger slams his fist into the nearby wall and goes to clean the empty pens in a huff. While he is in the underground he once again is surrounded by Hal and his goons and is locked in a pen once again. Hal believes he got off easy and needs to be punished more for risking the safety of the crew. His goons bring Stacy over and begin to be as touchy as expected from scum. One of them pulls out a taser and begins to shock the poor girl until she passes out from sheer pain. They toss her into the pen with Roger. Hal begins to mention how bad it looks if the boss were to find big, strong Roger standing over a helpless unconscious girl. His cackle rings through Roger’s ears and through the bars he grabs Hal and begins slamming the man repeatedly into the bars, killing him. The others get ready to beat the crap out of him but Hal begins to turn and bites one of the others. The rest run in fear as the smell from the pen masks Roger and Stacy from the Zeds. He falls to his knees and begins to cry as he hears another growl behind him. Stacy had also died from the assault. He manages to reach for the taser and defend himself but can’t bring himself to kill her so he uses it to break the electric lock and escape.*

 His story over, Scarab stands up and embraces him in a hug. She is aware he is an emotional wreck and needs to be watched still because he is prone to violence when mistreated too long. She asks how he managed to survive and he mentions that by the end of the first week it was pretty much him and three others. He briefly tells a story about how one visitor, named Hassan, was kind of taking the lead and actually got a lot of people out of the walls safely. She stops him and asks about the man’s appearance. He describes him and she breaks down. That is her husband, and the kids weren’t with him. He attempts to console her but he doesn’t have the emotional capacity. She asks him what direction Hassan had sent the survivors and he informs her it was east. That happens to be where the Warehouse is so Scarab plans for them to head out immediately. They grab Hiro and leave to retrieve the supplies.

## Cast

### Main

* Sabra "Scarab" Nazari
* Hiro Orias
* Roger

### Supporting

* Robin Santos
* Gregory
* Mr. Hopper

### Guest

* Hal
* Stacy
* Bella
* Tony Lavelle

## Trivia

* Players this session: Anthony Hotchkiss (Roger)
* Matt Christie and Antoine SinClaire could not attend this session for differing reasons. Although Hiro did make an appearance, August did not.
* This session is spent 80% of the time in a flashback, the first to focus solely on past events in Athantopia history.