Arc 5: Plague's Servant

## Session 1 (3/28/2020)

* On the road back from Dugway, Addie catches sight of a spike trap in front of them, and the vehicles stop
* On the highway crossing the road above, a large figure stands, and without answering the groups questions, tosses something to the ground below
	+ Gregg catches it, and it’s revealed to be a Templar wrapped up in his own tabard, inflicted with a strange arcane disease
	+ Addie uses her healing to cure it
* Jenny and Atom leap up on the overpass to confront the figure
	+ He stays silent as the duo question him, and thus Jenny decides to pry into his mind
		- She gets horrible feelings and images of sickness
		- And the words “A challenge has been made. It’s your choice whether or not the warrior wants to accept it.”
		- He mentions he doesn’t mind a fight, but doesn’t attack as the two “let” him leave
* Left with few options, the group takes the traumatized Templar, now known as Tom, back to New Wells
	+ Tom seems too frightened to speak to what happened to him
* When we arrive in New Wells, there’s a large group gathered around Victor
	+ He uses a new invention to heal a group of rough looking people not from New Wells
		- He mentions they were held as slaves by the Hell Riders
	+ He uses the healing ray on us, to be safe after our encounter
* Victor mentions someone came into town and started helping out, and completed our delivery from New Wells to Oasis
	+ That person turns out to be River Mortem, Addie’s best friend, former mentor, and the person she was sent by Simon to track down (and has loved for years \*cough cough\*)
* River arrives and greets the group, and Addie pulls her aside as the rest follow Victor to the barn for dinner
	+ Addie mentions the allegations against her, and River spills the story on what she remembers: that she was defending a caravan when she blacked out, and when she came to, she was covered in blood and civilians were dead
		- Addie believes that she wasn’t at fault
	+ Addie mentions the figure they met on the overpass on the way back, and River notes it sounds like an Anti-Templar
	+ Addie gives River a brief on what happened in Dugway as they head to the barn
* During the town dinner, Jenny tells the story of how we defeated Commander Keen, projecting it into the townsfolk’s minds
	+ She successfully lowers the fear level
* Atom gives Victor the information we found in Dugway, leaving out research about weaponized diseases and putting souls in androids

## Session 2 (4/4/2020)

* 1 week after the events at Dugway
* Jenny shows the group the visions she got when tapping into the overpass dude’s mind
	+ River verifies it’s an Anti-Templar we’re dealing with, though only knows the basics beyond that
* We go over plans to protect the town
	+ The Anti probably wouldn’t have a problem marching into town
	+ Gregg mentions building robots with the schematics we found in Dugway
		- Choc mentions that could take some time
	+ Jenny suggests drugging the town to make people less afraid, and less likely to fuel the Anti’s strength
		- River says that would only affect one town, not the entire area where it matters
	+ Gregg says we should try to learn more about him, and Jenny counters that in doing so, he can learn more about us
		- Addie reminds the group they have Tom; if they can get him to talk, we might find out something useful
* The group goes to convince Tom to give us details on the Anti and his abduction
	+ Tom seems to go into a panic when questioned about his experience
	+ Gregg helps Addie convince Tom to start talking, and he admits he was working with the Anti-Templar (Marcus), trying to gain the kind of power the Antis tap into
		- Their plan was to infect the town and get everyone sick, with Tom as patient zero
	+ Addie stops River from beating the shit out of him, for the moment, mentioning they need more info
* Having confirmed Tom’s intentions, Jenny reaches into his mind to extract more information
	+ Tom hated Simon, after he refused to save Tom’s mother
	+ When Tom met Marcus, he saw a way to gain power, to use it against Simon, and he enjoyed the acts he committed
	+ Marcus’s base is a hospital in Golconda, Nevada
	+ Marcus’s abilities: incredibly fast and strong, with an ax that cuts through his enemies with ease, can spread disease through water supplies as well as people
		- He’d head into towns, cook for them, and poisons people, turning them into plague zombies
	+ Marcus’s appearance under his helmet: emaciated and diseased, with sores and tumors around his face
	+ Marcus used to be a member of the Templar order, but met Brad Modeen and switched sides
	+ Marcus used to be one of the best cancer surgeons in the country
	+ Marcus told Tom to stay away from floor 13
	+ Tom gave his sword to Marcus
* Once we got all the info we could, Addie steps aside and lets River punch him repeatedly
	+ River says she might take him to Simon, Addie reminds her it’s a long way to Boise, and River takes out her gun and shoots him dead
* While this conversations was going on, Choc talked to Victor
	+ Victor is working on Mac
	+ Choc asks about a soul tap, and Victor mentions that while he’s never done it, he knows how to
	+ Choc tells Victor about our potential plan to drug the town to lower the fear, and though Victor doesn’t like it, he’ll support what plan we choose since we haven’t done him wrong yet
	+ Choc gets the Soul tap implant from Victor

## Session 3 (4/11/2020)

* Less than 24 hours after our confrontation with Tom
* Having picked up Red on the road, the group heads to Golconda, Nevada, to investigate Marcus’s hospital base at about 6 pm
* We arrive in the town, and it seems abandoned
	+ Humboldt General Hospital dwarfs all the town’s other buildings
* Atom and Mac take up guard duty by our vehicles
* Choc and Red notice shapes moving in the hospital lobby
	+ From Tom’s memories, we conclude those are bloatbelly guards Marcus has set up on the first floor, with the order to only attack people that enter
* Also from Tom’s memories: there’s an emergency exit on the side of the building that hits all floors, and leads directly to the 13th
	+ There’s an alarm on the stairwell door leading inside
* Jenny uses her abilities to leap up the side of the building, lowering a cable for the rest of us
	+ She is able to keep the alarm from going off as we enter
* We spread out to scout the 13th floor
	+ Addie hears something coming from the bathroom, enters with Jenny, and finds a dead Templar, who turns out to be an undead Templar
	+ After he starts screaming, Addie decapitates him, takes his tabard and sword
* As we head down a hall, we notice an observation window
	+ Looks to be a surgery room, with a pentagram in blood on the floor and a person tied to a hospital bed in the middle
	+ Addie recognizes him as a fellow Templar, Charles Ross
	+ We make our way down to the room and examine the pentagram
		- Red mentions it’s part of a binding ritual, to connect with the hunting grounds and draw out power
		- Addie and River break both the circle and Charles’s bonds with their swords
	+ Charles is covered in symbols painted from his own blood, stab wounds, and black, cancerous tumors
		- Addie uses her magic, and her Martyr blessing to heal him, erasing his wounds and disease
	+ He’d been there for 3 weeks, saw two other Templars
	+ Choc finds Tom’s and Charles’s swords
* River mentions an office she found that Marcus used, and Addie follows her there to further investigate
	+ There’s a laptop with a journal from Marcus
		- He used to be one of the leading specialists on cancer research and surgical removal
		- He was researching a type that came from ghost rock when he got it himself
			* He tried to get rid of it with chemo, with radiation, with lay on hands, but nothing worked
			* Defeated and bitter, he began harming others, poisoning towns, and gained power
		- He’s terrified of Templars, fears a fair fight
		- His research could be completed, and the details are in his files
* While this is happening, Jenny and Red are up on the roof, surveying the area
	+ Jenny mentions Red meets her basic criteria and is fuckable, and invites him to bang later
	+ They catch the sound of cars in the distance, and spot 5 bikes and one car heading toward the hospital
	+ Mac contacts the group to say they’ve seen movement, and Choc asks them to take the vehicles around to the back lot
* Addie and River meet up with the rest when they hear the commotion, and we split up
	+ Addie picks up Charles, and her and Red use the cable to get back down to ground level and to the vehicles
	+ Choc, Jenny, and River run back inside to place Atom’s explosives to blow up the hospital
		- Choc sets up the generator to get an elevator moving, and they throw the ghost rock explosives inside
* The inside group makes it out, and we meet up in the back lot before peeling out of town
* Unseen by us, the unknown group driving toward the hospital stops outside, a woman in a black tabard getting out, mentioning Marcus said someone/something was supposed to be here
* When we’re outside the town, Atom sets off the explosives and the hospital blows

## Session 4 (4/18/2020)

* It’s the morning after our trip to Golconda, 9am
* The group gathers in Victor’s home to tell him what we found
	+ Addie tells him about the cancer that Marcus has and spreads, and the cure he was working on
		- Jenny brought up the idea that curing his cancer might destroy him, based on where his powers come from and his appearance, and Red corroborates that the cancer’s likely keeping him alive
		- River gives Victor the research, and he says he’ll work on finishing it
* We start planning for Marcus’s eventually assault
	+ Jenny says we should lock down the town so Marcus can’t get a read on town defenses and can’t take a hostage, and our group can take trips for necessary supplies
	+ Victor says he can build turrets for defenses, Jenny brings up the automaton plans and how souls are necessary (which Atom left out of the info Victor received), and Victor assures her they can use tech spirits instead
	+ River mentions that Antis get stronger when they kill Templars, which would make her and Addie targets
		- Jenny proposes disguising herself as River to draw Marcus out
	+ Addie brings up checking the town’s water supply to assure Marcus hasn’t poisoned it
* We start preparing our defenses
	+ Choc connects to the Net, finds a gun spirit, gets royally fucked up by it, but convinces the spirit to be drawn into his tank’s cannon he’s been working on
	+ Addie successfully trains Gregg with her ax
	+ Jenny and Red help teach the townsfolk how to defend themselves, especially against bloatbellies
	+ Atom and Victor work on making the automatons (are able to get three operating) and the healing ray to destroy Marcus’s cancer
* 3 days later
	+ Victor gets a message from the convoy: the shipment he was expecting is being attacked
	+ Jenny argues it’s most likely a trap, and we could leave the town with significantly less defense, Addie argues the convoy driver’s worth saving and the shipment’s needed
	+ We decide to all drive off and face the raiders
		- After killing the groups of bikers surrounding the convoy truck, Jenny hops on and tells the driver to stop a kilometer out of New Wells
		- She hears a rumbling in the trailer, and messages the group about the disturbance
	+ Once parked, Jenny disguises herself as River, we get into position, and the trailer doors are kicked open to unveil Marcus standing on the other side

## Session 5 (4/25/2020)

* We pick up where we left off: staring down Marcus in the rain
* 4 undead and 2 bloatbellies leap from the cab beside Marcus, and combat begins
	+ Gregg slices off one of the undead’s heads with her ax
	+ Marcus activates a damage field, to which Atom responds by activating his own damage field and jumping in front of Marcus
	+ Addie uses her time to cast smite and speed, readying herself
	+ Marcus then uses his opportunity to cast smite himself, with lightning striking his weapon as he brings it down to cleave Jenny in half
	+ Immediately following, Addie bolts around the corner of the trailer, slicing one of the walking dead in half, then lands two devastating slashes on Marcus before turning and plunging her blade into his gut, killing him and bringing him to the ground
		- That legend chip was worth it (and 3 blue chips...)
	+ Gregg and Red down the bloatbellies
* After combat
	+ Atom takes Jenny’s body and dissolves it in a green light
		- Gregg yells at Atom, saying he can’t just get rid of her like that as she cries, and Atom says he didn’t get rid of her, he made her part of the Glow, and to remember she’s still with us, to keep her memory
	+ Red gets into the Iguana and drives off
		- He finds an empty gas station and burns it in a massive inferno, calling for Jesse
		- She appears, and Red tells her that every good person he’s met has ended up in a ditch because of his fuck ups, and now she can take a message to McCarthy: he’s going to kill him
		- Jesse tells him he doesn’t know the weight of the shit he’s just stepped in, and he better sleep with his gun on him
	+ Choc drives back into New Wells, drags out his cocaine, and destroys the product in the rain before going off to find Victor for support
	+ Addie is despondent, digging her sword into Marcus’s guts before decapitating him
		- Atom stays with her until they leave, helping her burn Marcus’s body with spook juice flames
* The next morning, Addie wakes up crying from night terrors, mumbling to River about how this was Templar business, and Jenny shouldn't've have had to die for their responsibilities
	+ Addie also speaks to her fear, that that could've been River, would’ve been, and promises her that’s never going to happen as long as she can do something about it
	+ Addie cannonically says “fuck” counter: 1
* The group meets up that morning
	+ Red says he knows some people just have to be killed now, and he has targets in Vegas
	+ Addie tells him he’ll have her sword when he needs it
* During breakfast, Addie stands in her full Templar garb beside Atom, who tells the tale of Marcus’s defeat and Jenny’s sacrifice, vowing to protect the people of the town
	+ He lowers the fear level
* Addie claims Marcus’s bike as her own