Arc 9: The Goat, the Witch, and the Warden

## Session 1 (1/9/2021)

* We pick up in Junkyard, about a week after the last session, 9 am
	+ Group member activities
		- Atom’s been recruiting and working with the acolytes, telling them he’s going to find them a more permanent place for training
		- Addie’s been training in her armor, visiting Dick trying to get River stories out of him, and spending time with River all the while dealing with large spikes of anxiety she won’t talk about
		- Choc’s been working with Derpy, both training and uploading skills to it, and upgrading his tank
		- Gregg’s started fighting in the pits, did fairly well, survived, and earned the attention of a creepy old recruiter that goes by “Legitimate Larry” because that doesn’t raise any alarm bells
			* He tells her he can help her make more money, and gives her a card with his contacts
			* Gregg also earned $800 in the pit and spent it on edibles
* At about 12, Noni finds Addie in the Yard Arms, checking and rechecking her supplies
	+ Noni tells her she’ll be heading out with Mac and Dick soon to track down the coven
	+ Addie gives her what details the group learned from Tessa
		- Seems the witch is still alive and basically being used as a training dummy for the werewolves
	+ Atom arrives, gives Noni some of his peppers, and asks where Gregg is
		- Addie mentions she was fighting in the pit, and when Atom tells her about recruiters, she immediately heads out with them to find Gregg
	+ We find Gregg in the pit, and though she mentions Larry when asks, says she wasn’t really interested in what he was offering anyway
* We head back toward the vehicles, prepping to leave soon
	+ Addie and Atom had both inquired to H3x about making Gregg a new hoverboard after her other one was destroyed in an explosion, and Atom sent a schematic for one
		- H3x delivers it as asked, telling Gregg to cut back on being an asshole and work with her group, her family, before giving her the helmet
			* Addie fights a losing battle with the group on trying to get Gregg to understand morality
* Noni, Dick, and Mac are about to leave on their mission
	+ Richard comes up to say his temporary goodbyes
		- He tells Addie not to be a hero, to keep River safe, and as far as he’s concerned she’s a Mortem now so don’t get herself killed
		- When Addie questions him about where artifacts he might find go, he mentions he’s firmly on our team
		- He and River hug before he heads off with the other two
* At this point I reestablish Addie’s never told anyone about the fact that River’s technically a wanted criminal and wanted in Boise, and all such details surrounding that situation (she ain’t putting River’s trauma out there especially when she’s not to blame)She ain’t a snitch
* Finally, our group heads out of Junkyard, drive will take about 12 hours
	+ Established order:
		- River rides with Choc and Derpy, who leads with the tank
		- Gregg rides with Addie on her bike
		- Atom drives the Beta Ray
		- Toussaint flies overhead as multiple crows
* While driving, we’re scouted and attacked by a road gang, which turns out to be the Wrecking Crew
	+ I could do an exact play-by-play but here’s just some random highlights
		- Toussaint, before combat starts, is able to take a hook off one of the trucks, attach it to another, make it lose control, and force them both off the road
		- Gregg leaps off Addie’s bike onto one of the tow trucks
		- Addie gets lit on fire like, 3 separate times
		- Atom’s able to pull the arm off the crane with his magneto ability
		- Derpy actually makes one shot
		- Gregg manipulates the fire off Addie and uses it to burn one of the gangers alive
* After Combat, the crane driver lives, his vehicle unmoving at the side of the road
	+ As he crawls out, Addie stops him, easily shatters his shoulder with her strength, and intimidates him into telling what she wants to know by threatening to slowly strangle him
		- Addie cannonically says “fuck” counter: 2
		- He tells her The Warden (her father) has taken up a base in Sunny View Idaho with the Wrecking Crew
		- That’s where he’s holed up for meetings, everyone reports there at least once a week
		- Security includes a couple mortars, 3 lookouts with sniper rifles that surround the area leading in
		- The Warden made a deal recently that secured the place with more ammo, better guns, kevlar for everyone
		- There’s some guy with a dragon tattoo on his right ear that came in, is always seen around The Warden, something off about him
	+ She decapitates him guillotine style, getting blood all over herself, and stands, shaking, too out of it for the time being to accept Atom or River’s support
		- Before Toussaint leaves, disguised as one of the gang, Addie tells him to keep an eye out for Theodore, William, and Meredith, The Warden’s lieutenants
		- River knows Addie hates seeing people in pain, can’t really stomach torturing/seeing people tortured, always prefers to kill people quickly
			* Her anger’s warring with her normal morality and it’s fucking with her head
	+ As soon as River joins her on her bike, Addie speeds off, leading the rest of the way to Boise
* We ride into Boise at about 3:30 AM
	+ Addie and River head to the Temple, directing the rest of the group to set up in the Bazaar area
	+ Addie and River meet Simon in the Temple; he’s dressed down and looks tired
		- He first questions Addie about why she’s covered in blood, and she mentions their trip was interrupted by a road gang, but doesn’t admit which one until Simon guesses and River confirms
		- River annoyedly asks him why the roads aren’t clear, and Simon admits they haven’t had the numbers around to deal with them; most Templars are out on missions
		- Simon then questions River about the accusations against her, she gives her account of getting possessed, and Addie confirms it, reminding Simon he knows the person she is
			* Simon agrees, he knows and believes them both
		- Simon questions again why Addie’s covered in blood—even in her early days she was careful to avoid it, and asks if someone pissed her off
			* Addie says it was the Wrecking Crew, he knows what that means
			* Simon acknowledges that, tells her that the WC has been attacking caravan trying to get through, her father’s been around, two knights have been lost to the gang’s ambushes
			* Addie insists Simon give her the details immediately so she can act, but he doesn’t budge, saying he’ll give her the info in the morning when both of them have gotten sleep
		- Addie mentions there’s something that can’t wait until morning, and proceeds to hand the Bell over to Simon, telling him what she knows about it
			* When he asks who found it, Addie looks to River
				+ River says she found it, Simon knows she’s lying but doesn’t acknowledge it beyond a look
			* Simon says he’ll talk to their local librarian about it, he’ll keep the knowledge of the Bell under wraps from others for now
		- As a last order of business, Addie mentions the fallen Templars they found in Marcus’s base, giving their names and swords to Simon
	+ Business at the Temple concluded, at least until morning, Simon heads off to the Barracks for the night, Addie sets up her tent in near the party’s vehicles and stays with River

## Session 2 (1/23/2021)

* We open on a prologue I shall write on later
	+ McCarthy’s heckin’ dead tho damn
* A thick smog’s been gathering in Boise, and no one’s taking to it well
* We start in the early morning, 3 days after arriving in Boise
	+ It’s been an hour after Addie’s meeting with Toussaint, and she’s preparing to head out
		- Gregg’s practicing with her new skulls she got from the Nomads, Choc’s teaching Derpy melee combat (fuck the robo kid’s got a knife now) and Toussaint’s chilling in the cemetery playing with his new katana, waiting for the rest of us to head out
	+ A minivan that looks about held together by scraps of tape speeds into town right in front of the Temple: car’s covered in bullet holes, 3 flat tires
		- A person scrambles out, clutching a sack to their chest as they run into the Temple
		- Addie follows behind, running into a fellow Templar from her graduating class: Vickers
		- They both make their way into a meeting room in the Temple, to find the person who rode in the car—a young woman—crying, and Simon looking uncharacteristically angry as he stares at the sack
			* The sack contains the head of another Templar Addie would’ve known: Tim Brown
			* Things are worse than we thought; while the Wrecking Crew has been stepping up operations in Boise, they’ve had help: the Combine, some group likely out of Shan Fan, and the kicker: Brad Modeen and his Antis
			* Brad’s been attacking caravans, killing anyone trying to cross the border and get to Boise
			* The woman’s—Daphne’s—caravan was struck by him, her people were either killed or taken, and he sent her ahead to send a message: a challenge of a dual for Simon, and for every day he doesn’t respond, another caravanner dies
			* Time is of the essence, and Simon can’t spare more Templars: it’s just gonna be Addie and the party investigating the caravan, hopefully freeing the prisoners and taking out Brad
				+ He wants River to stay in Boise due to the threats they’re facing
	+ Addie goes to gather the party so they can set out
		- River ain’t happy about staying, but she’ll do it
* Meeting up with Toussaint while on the road, Daphne points us toward Twin Falls, where her caravan was ambushed
	+ It takes us about a day and 6 hours to get there, and that’s only because we all got raises on our driving rolls
	+ The fear and evil in the place can be easily felt
	+ Toussaint informs us if we die here, we’ll be rising back up as undead for sure, so if you love your friends, crush their skulls when they kick the bucket
	+ We find the caravan attack site
		- Toussaint does a fly over
			* There are corpses being picked at by scavenger animals
			* Doesn’t seem to be any traps
			* He sees a path that the attackers may have taken, a path cleared of vehicles that heads towards an exit, with a sign pointing to Sam’s Apple Orchard
		- Gregg sends Tony closer to the site while we drive to the Orchard, saving us some time
			* Looks like the vehicles have 50 cal sized holes, hit by heavy fire power
			* One of the corpses looks like a syker, sliced in half
			* All the corpses have their skulls crushed
				+ Looks like they were lines up and executed
	+ Toussaint mentions that something big is stirring around here, Reckoners might still have plans here after all, and if we go through with our mission, Hell’s gonna put targets on our backs
* We throw ideas around as we head to the Orchard
	+ Toussaint will frighten the hostages to get them to move, as they’re unlikely to function well under the fear around the area
		- He’ll heard them where we want them with Tony
	+ Choc will draw fire with the tank do to its armor, and Addie and Gregg will take on Brad
* In Sam’s Orchard
	+ Toussaint scouts ahead in bird form, spots corpses hanging from trees—some with white tabards—and it seems one person is still alive
	+ He is able to cut her down before she suffocates and gets her safely to the ground
	+ At our approach, she looks scared, especially of Addie, saying her people had already done enough and that was why she was hanging
	+ Toussaint calms her with his supernatural charm, and she tells us her name is Barbara
	+ Gregg attempts to heal her with magic, but it fails, and she mentions that the nature of the place makes it difficult to magically heal
		- At least for those who are hanged in the Orchard
	+ She gives us what info she can
		- She’s a Doomsayer, and used her radiation magic to attack Brad’s people; they took it like it was nothing
		- They took the caravan survivors to a field farther north, to a cow pasture, where the gang camped out around them
		- About an hour after the attack, a Templar fought his way up to Modeen’s tent: Aaron McConnell (well jesus fuck he’s one of the first Templars)
			* Aaron was able to pull Brad into a dual, and he seemed to have the upper hand when they faced off, dealing what should have been a killing blow, but Brad simply pulled Aaron’s sword out, laughed, whispered something to him, and heavily wounded him
		- As some of the caravaners attempted to help, Modern stated someone would have to hang, and Barbara volunteered
			* She was brought to the Orchard and hung with Aaron, and Aaron didn’t make it
		- Addie mentions Modeen’s gotta have a weakness, like Marcus did, and Barbara says we should ask Aaron
		- She mentions we can speak to Aaron if we provide her some ghost rock, which Choc does
			* Addie questions Aaron’s spirit, and he tells us Modeen’s a serviter, and told Aaron before he died that only the sword of the first Anti-Templar, Julia Aiken, could kill him
			* We let his spirit go, knowing what we need to kill Brad
	+ We don’t have the time to spare to drive all the way back to Boise, so Toussaint volunteers to fly back and get the sword to save on time
		- He’ll need Addie to verify his intention to Simon
			* Thank you Double for reminding us we have fuckin’ cameras
			* We get a video of Addie giving a brief on the situation, of Aaron’s death, and the need for Julia’s sword to be returned with Toussaint
		- Toussaint heads off to Boise
			* In Boise
				+ 2 squires confront Toussaint, questioning him before he provides the video and they rush off to show Simon
				+ Once he sees the video, Simon escorts Toussaint to the Hall of Heroes and retrieves Julia’s blade for him
				+ Feeling something dark and disturbingly familiar in Boise, Toussaint meets with River to drop a bombshell before returning to the party (see text rp)
					- Bro I’m scared
			* In the Orchard
				+ Addie jots down the names of the Templars in the orchard on the chance they can’t get the bodies out
				+ Choc makes Addie a shield from scrap
				+ Addie and Gregg talk about the plan for fighting Brad, and what happens if either of them is downed
	+ Toussaint returns
		- He gives the sword to Addie, and gives her what he says is a message from River: basically don’t get herself killed (that’s a lie, River wanted to tell her things were worse than they thought they were)
* We head out to confront Modeen’s gang
	+ Toussaint flies down after finding the captives, attacks one of the gang members and mesmerizes another to attack his allies
	+ Toussaint noticed green liquid in a tanker the gangers were surrounding, and tells Choc to aim for that
		- Choc gets a solid hit on it, and everyone around it is eviscerated
	+ Gregg runs out and gets a couple hits one two others

## Session 3 (2/13/2021)

* We open near the clearing, traps set and ambush prepared
	+ The posse and the civilians are holed up behind brush cover thrown together by Gregg and Toussaint
* Not  long after, Brad Modeen arrives on the scene with his crew: multiple gang members and 3 antis
	+ With the party hidden in constructed cover, Brad proceeds to taunt Addie into coming out in the open, to no success
	+ We get the drop on them as they search
		- Poor bastards couldn’t spot a 7’8’’ woman in bulky bronze armor, they deserve what’s comin’ to ‘em
* Combat begins
	+ Toussaint lets loose with his guns, landing a couple hits on two antis
	+ Addie buffs herself with Warriors Gift and Protection before breaking cover and charging Brad and landing two strikes with her sword
	+ Choc lands a blast from the tank on one of their trucks, and Derpy...Derpy just tries his best
		- One of the antis is able to get a hit on Derpy before he flees, then lands a wound on one of the civilians
	+ Gregg summons a buncha interdimensional goblins then disguises herself as Addie
	+ Brad recovers from Addie’s first hits, summoning a microstorm above the two of them and summoning lightning down on her
		- She backpedals to dodge the first, but the second strikes her, doing little more than shaking her
	+ Seeing how things are going, Brad calls on a stop to the fighting and challenges Addie to a dual, which she somewhat stupidly accepts
		- Before she can get into position, Brad stomps his foot to the ground and shakes the ground beneath her feet, though she’s just able to keep herself from falling prone
		- She rushes forward, meeting his ax with her sword before disarming him and landing a deep gash in his chest
		- The bastard starts getting cocky again before she reveals Julia’s blade in her other hand, and the fear rises to his eyes as she jams it into his guts
		- With Brad finally slain, Addie calls to the group to finish the rest of his followers before they flee
* One of the Anti’s is torn apart by Tony and the hobbs, another takes one of Addie’s arrows through the skull, and Addie finishes the final one with a blade through the face
* With all threats eliminated, Addie takes what she can find on the corpses: their swords, the broken blades of fallen Templars, Brad’s ax, and a couple frag grenades
	+ She helps Choc heal the wound on the civilian
	+ Choc makes a makeshift cart to carry the bodies of the dead, and Addie spends the next 4 hours cutting down corpses from the orchard
	+ We pack up and head back to Boise
* The ride back is mostly quiet, until we’re about 10 miles out from the city: smoke is rising from the ruins, and when we get closer, there’s the sound of gunfire
	+ Black hats, walking dead and Wrecking Crew have made it into the city, being fought off by Noni, Mac, Richard, River, Vickers, and Simon
	+ With the aid of Choc’s cannon, quick work is made of the enemies
	+ Gregg grabs Dick and drags him away in the chaos, where she learns he lost the Maw
		- Tells him they need it to trap a demon
		- He gives her his notes
		- Mac walks up to the both of them, mentioning they can talk over the details when everyone’s around
* Addie delivers her report to Simon
	+ He tells her he saw Aaron since his death, and it appears they have a new Martyr in the making
	+ Addie hands over Brad’s ax to be broken, returns Julia’s blade as well as the broken ones of the fallen Templars
	+ She mentions she brought the bodies back to put to rest
	+ Simon tells her to accept the victory, however small it may seem, before making his way back to the Temple
* Addie rounds up the caravaners to burn their dead in Boise (as well as that of the other victims in the orchard besides the Templars)
	+ During the burning, Noni slides Addie her mission report, mentions Dick lost the Maw
	+ Dick comes around and mentions Gregg assaulted him and she has his notes
	+ Addie, concerned Gregg mentioned something about Baphomet, goes to look for her ‘alone’, tossing River a ‘we need to talk’ look
* River follows, and Addie drops that she knows about her plan with Toussaint and isn’t happy about it, mentions they’ll talk about it outside Boise’s borders
	+ Addie confirms Gregg didn’t let anything about Simon’s situation slip before she takes River outside the maelstrom
		- Addie asks if she really would’ve lied to her for the rest of their lives, to which River replies she would if that’s what it took
			* Oh yeah, that’s gonna sting for a long while

* Addie questions why murder’s the first thing River jumped to, instead of trying to save him
	+ River tells her it’s part of the bigger picture, that they couldn’t risk playing with people’s lives, and she’s not as close to Simon; it doesn’t matter now--if they don’t need to kill him they don’t need to kill him
* She makes River tell her directly why she was going to lie to her, to which she says Addie’s too emotionally invested
	+ Addie basically tells her that while she can understand the intent, it’s not for her to decide what she can handle
* The conversation ends with the promise to try and save Simon, and the hope that maybe, if there’s anything gosh dang good in the universe, they can get some sort of vacation once everything’s sorted out

* Group meeting

## Session 4 (3/27/2021)

* We open on the Kirkland Cozy Inn, Addie’s home in Sumpter. It’s about 7am, Saturday May 12
	+ River wakes up with night terrors about her mom, Addie comforts her and she, River, and Noni head out on a run
	+ Back in Boise, Choc is working on upgrading Derpy
	+ Toussaint’s burning the time between in Meridian
	+ Red rides into town, runs into Addie, affirms he’s ready to take on McCarthy and Walker; Addie gives him back his revolver
	+ Gregg challenges Dick to a dual, he immediately sinks her into the earth, saying he’s not taking chances with her
		- Gregg gets Tony to get a hit in on him, and Dick says if she agrees to a ceasefire now, they can fight in Boise, in front of everyone
		- Gregg agrees
* After a 2 and a half hour drive to Boise, we arrive in town to see a fair few more people, a lot of mourners
	+ After a time, Simon draws everyone’s attention, and leads the way to a large bonfire, where Jo and Vickers ceremoniously lay a few tabards on the flames
	+ The festival begins as soon as the tabards burn
		- Addie asks Red to watch Gregg so she doesn’t get too drunk
			* That absolutely does not happen
		- Gregg and Dick duel in the middle of town
			* After a short back and forth, Gregg gets an absolutely decimating hit on his balls, and that man is destroyed both in body and in spirit RIP in pieces Dick
		- Addie and River decide to tell Jo about the situation with Simon
			* Addie briefs her on what they know, including the Bell, Jo says she’ll stay in Boise to keep an eye on him
			* Jo tells Addie the wheels are in motion for something big--Junkyard’s in talks to ally with the Templars, the Doomsayers, and a group of junkers; people are making moves and things are getting more complicated
				+ Nothing worrying about that, nope
			* Addie says her goodbyes to Simon before they leave
	+ Addie asks Noni to head off to meet her skyer contacts, to counter Cassandra if need be
	+ We head out of Boise
* Meet Loco in Meridian
	+ He asks Red to infuse a cross to hide his unholy aura
		- Tells him McCarthy’s dead
	+ Loco gets River to use her genetic connection to Ann to unlock a red hat tablet, one that’ll allow us to blow up the chip in Mab’s skull when the time comes
		- If Cassandra wants Mab dead, having this key to that could help in convincing her to work with us
	+ Loco tells Addie what he found while hunting her dad
		- Two people were under heavy guard: a pregnant woman that definitely had his kid, and a young girl who he called Addeline
		- Seems the girl is delusioned into loyalty to him
* 8 hour drive to Moscow, Idaho

## Session 5 (4/3/2021)

* About 9PM, Saturday, May 12
* We open where text rp left off: with the posse riding up to the gates of Moscow, Red leading with Loco’s head on the dash and Addie’s hands tied
	+ As we roll up, Red mentions to the guards that he’s an old friend of Walker’s, here to make amends--brought a Templar and the head of a vampire
	+ They let us through, and en route to the 2nd gate, all but Red’s vehicle peel off
	+ Red drives through the second gate without trouble, and along with Addie and Toussaint’s head, are taken to Walker
		- Red tells Walker he made a mistake leaving the nomads, going around trying to do the right thing wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be, wants bygones to be bygones
		- Walker takes his word and points him toward Greene’s office
* A ways from the gate to the inner ring, Mac burns through the wall with Dick and Gregg
	+ Dick heads to the tower, burning through it and the controls
	+ Mac sets up a few traps in the building the tower’s in
	+ Gregg, invisible, heads off with Tony and finds where the captives are being held: the library
		- Summoning a couple hobbs, they take out a group of soldiers before Mac meets up with her
		- Mac stealths in, takes out the guard, and starts freeing the slaves
		- Heru was being held with them, and grabs his sword before heading up
* Choc gets word from Gregg, drives around the wall closer to where the captives are being held
* Back up in Greene’s office:
	+ Red and Addie are brought in, with Greene’s cyborgs standing guard at the door
	+ Greene is disheveled and exhausted, but straightens up when he sees Addie
	+ Red introduces himself and converses with Greene
* Meanwhile:
	+ Toussaint is brought to the armory, drops from the box and reforms, killing the lackey that brought him there, and places the detonator
* In Greene’s Office:
	+ Addie and Red make their move as Greene has his back turned
		- Red quickly downs the two cyborgs with headshots
		- Addie takes a shotgun shell to the shoulder from Greene’s cybernetically enhanced arm before vaulting the desk and grappling him
			* She crushes both of his arms, shatters one leg, and slams his head into the desk to incapacitate him
* Outside:
	+ Dick moves away from the tower, vaults off the roof of the building, and lands with a burst of flame, incinerating the 4 trainees and blasting Walker backwards into the wall
	+ With Greene down, Red bolts outside to confront Walker, snagging him in a damage field
* Addie makes her way down the stairs to meet the rest outside, Greene tucked under her arm, and she knocks out a black hat on the way
* Back at the library, Heru mistakenly takes one of Gregg’s hobbs as an enemy, and cuts it down to Gregg’s annoyance
* Choc rams the tank through the wall, making his way toward the newly freed hostages
* A raptor lands near the destroyed tower, and Anne steps out, heavy weaponry in hand, taking a couple unsuccessful shots at Red
	+ Oh boy it’s time for some drama
* Toussaint finally catches up with Addie
	+ Questions whether he should investigate noise in an office near Greene’s, or deal with Anne
	+ Addie tells him to take her out, but not kill her
* Toussaint engages Anne, separating her from her weapons before she jumps off the roof
	+ She spots Dick, takes a few swipes at him before he basically grappling hooks himself off the field
	+ Toussaint takes the opportunity to plug his brain into the raptor, take control, and smash it into Anne to take her out
* At the library, Choc, Mac, and Heru start herding out the prisoners
	+ Gregg, Tony, and a hobb decimate a group of combine soldiers before they can mount a resistance
* Finally, the action settles
	+ Addie digs Anne out of the rubble, Greene yelling things to get under Addie’s skin the entire time before Toussaint shoves a bloody bandana in his mouth
	+ When Addie pulls her out, she’s able to dig her teeth into Addie’s arm, though she resists the poison and grapples her to keep her steady
	+ River meets up with the group, and doesn’t get much time to take things in before acknowledging the Combine’s backup is coming and we need to get the fuck out
* While we’re prepping to leave, Toussaint investigates the office near Greene's
	+ He finds Ehrmantraut and Greene’s replacement for Addie
	+ Toussaint sends the kid out of the room before beheading Ehrmantraut
* On the drive out
	+ Dick tells Addie his deal with the Maw’s demon includes ‘curing’ Anne of her Combine programming
	+ Toussaint convinces the group to meet with Cassandra ASAP
* We end with most of the posse on the road, heading off to meet with Cassandra

## Session 6 (5/30/2021)

* What’s happened in the past month (out of rp):
	+ Addie was added to River and Noni’s existing mind link
	+ The night of arriving back after the meeting with Cassandra, Noni returned with a young kitten, and a lot of cuts and bruises
		- She collapsed almost as soon as she made it back, and shared with Addie and River a replay of what happened via mind link:
			* On her way back from learning the syker power, she had a run in with a group that looked like they were scavenging in the place she set up. She alerted them to her presence, and ran off when they took out their weapons, forgetting her jeep in the process. They continued to tail her to a couple other rest stops, both sides getting a few hits on each other. They didn’t follow her into Sumpter
			* They all wore the same uniform: leathers and gas masks, all around the same height: 5’6’’, with their eyes appearing to have a faint glow
	+ Addie had Noni wipe the memory of Adeline’s existence from her mind
	+ Judge Tolliver basically went postal in Junkyard and his position in the power structure is open
		- People are vying for it, and one of the groups to stand up is a new faction called the Union, headed by Victor and H3x, made up of Junkers, tradespeople and handymen
	+ Things in Boise have been strained, with the Templar trainees and Doomsayer acolytes bumping heads
	+ Simon’s been getting sicker
	+ Anne’s ‘alive’, though her body’s systems are still off in the way that she lacks her superhuman abilities and can barely move herself
		- Noni’s been having therapy sessions with her, trying to work through her issues
			* She’s been giving Addie detailed reports in a notebook about Anne’s progress and how she’s feeling
			* Addie’s been monitoring her progress
		- Dick’s mostly been staying away from her, as Addie’s asked
		- River’s spoken with her somewhat, but both are avoiding speaking about all the uncomfortable stuff
		- She’s slightly more docile now, less likely to be violent with us at least
	+ Mac’s been making frequent trips between Sumpter and the Boise bazaar, bringing back food and getting more into cooking
	+ For dealing with Baphomet
		- Jo was able to get a blood sample from Baphomet
		- Addie was able to piece together Baphomet’s true name
* Back to current day: June 5, in the morning; it’s a rainy day
* What the group’s up to:
	+ Horado’s chilling on the inn’s porch with a beer
	+ Toussaint is off in Denver with Adeline, getting ready for a sermon
	+ Addie’s waiting outside Anne’s room as her and Noni have a therapy session
	+ River and her dad are doing chin-ups on a tree out front
	+ Mac’s in the kitchen working on steak sandwiches
* While Addie waits outside the door to Anne’s room, she gets a message on her palmcorder from H3x
	+ It’s a video: he tells her he’s been working on some designs to improve her armor, and to bring it by for some upgrades if she wants
		- Says it’s part of the service, no payment needed
	+ He mentions Hellstromme wasn’t happy about losing the Maw
		- He has another job for Team Pancakes, a replacement job, though he’s not sure if his group is ready to handle it without help
	+ She can answer him back with the same method he used to send the message to her
* After getting the message, Addie checks in on Noni and Anne
	+ Anne’s still dealing with a lot of guilt and self-hatred
	+ Anne still wants to kill Dick
		- Addie asks Noni to bring it down to a manageable hatred
	+ Addie reasserts her paranoia about ComSat
* We jump to Boise, finishing preparations for dealing with Baphomet
	+ Addie and Horado go through the Boise bazaar, trying to find some sort of precious metal for the ritual
		- Both botch their rolls, and end up convinced an older woman at a basket-weaving stand is the best bet they got
		- Most they get out of her is a look at a plastic locket, and word that a couple rowdy boys had been fooling with people around the area, and they mentioned something about looking for treasure
			* Let it be known this woman’s name is Gertrude Dorkas
		- Addie and Horado follow a couple directions from people before ending up at an irradiated stream
			* It’s there that they run into Barbara, the Doomsayer that they’d encountered in Sam’s Orchard
				+ She gives a warm greeting to Addie, and gives some details on what’s been going on:
					- The grunts on both sides of the Templars and Doomsayers have been butting heads lately
						* Addie gets some names of Templar trainees to deal with later
					- 3 more Templars are staying in Boise, ordered to stick around by Jo
					- Massive amounts of formerly rogue mutants are flocking to Silas
					- Denver’s power structure is in flux, resistance groups are getting more ballsy and going on the offensive, and the Combine is mobilizing in response
						* Group called the “Blue Angels” are going at it with Combine raptors
					- She mentions trouble with the same group that Noni had run into the month before: bunch of people in leathers that usually attack single stragglers on the roads around Sacramento, Shan Fan, and Las Vegas
						* No idea what they want
			* As they speak, the two boys Addie and Horado had been looking for are noticed by the creek, throwing in garbage
				+ Addie asks Horado to deal with them, and as he approaches, they yell some sort of insults in various languages
				+ Horado basically ends up thinking they’re little racist assholes, and pistol whips one in the head
				+ I want to establish to the reader that these are 14 and 12 year olds
				+ Anyway, that kid goes down with a screwed up eye, Addie yells at Horado for hitting a kid before healing him up
				+ Both kids run away as soon as they can, with Addie basically yelling profuse apologies
				+ They spot a footlocker in the creek, and within is a gold pendant on a chain, encrusted with diamonds and in the shape of an upside down 5-pointed star
				+ Addie again apologizes to Barbara before we cut to deal with Baphomet
	+ Addie sets up the pieces of the ritual in a ruin just outside the maelstrom
		- She draws the circle, writes out Baphomet’s true name, puts down the metal, and as she speaks Baphomet’s name, the napkin with Simon’s blood burns
		- We see in a cut out of scene, that several Templar trainees and Doomsayer acolytes are caught by a sudden odd glow in their eyes and mouths before they collapse
			* The same happens to Simon, and he’s in critical condition