You reflect on the Eastern Nomad's equipment, having had a good chance to examine it after the course of your recent acquaintance. His horned horse is magnificent, not so large or clumsy as those used as beasts of burden. Rather, it has an agility and strength disproportionate to its size, able to reach speeds that could only be rivaled by a powered land vehicle on flat terrain. He carries a long Alloy lance with a slender harpoon-like head. He also has what you judge to be a rather compact machine pistol, a number of explosive charges and a short sword. The sword is Alloy too and heavy looking. You could almost believe that it was originally a blade from an industrial harvester or other reaping machine.
You also reflect on what you know of the Nomad's fighting prowess and techniques. They are known to value fierceness and skill at arms above all else, with every tribe, clan and family in a constant state of warfare with one or more other groups. Despite their disorganization they have been known to unite and scour more settled lands for slaves and loot. They favor surprise attacks where possible, often tacking reckless risks to do so. In your grandfather's day they sacked the Water City, far to the north, who's defenses where reckoned impregnable to a conventional siege. They accomplished this by disguising the vanguard of their hoard as a rich merchant caravan by loading them down with the spoils of their earlier raids, thus forcing their way through the gates and denying the defenders the use of the heavy guns that dashed past armies to pieces against the Water City's walls. After stealing everything not bolted down, burning anything flammable and taking some choice slaves they returned to the East to winter their horses. There are countless other stories of bandits ambushed by Nomads after a successful caravan raid, or of them joining one side of a war as mercenaries only to go on to loot both capitals. That said, they almost never break their word, holding it to be of extreme importance. And while they will hold to this tradition, in the face of death itself if available, it doesn't prevent them from working within loopholes to further their position. Most of their folk heroes that have the traits of a cunning leader have stories where they trick their enemies with a clever oath which almost always results in the bloody death of all concerned save the protagonist.
While you muse about these matters you receive news that the scouts have returned and bought with them a vehicle towing some sort of salvage. This bodes well indeed. You order them to report to you and soon your throne room is crowded with the members of the expedition. Of the ten who set out, you immediately notice that one is missing, the youngest of the Tinkers. You ask for a report and everyone starts talking at once. You call them to silence and ask one of the militia to tell you what happened. It seems that overall, the scouting expedition was a resounding success. When they started out they headed north, hugging the coast. They had intended to circle back East, then South and West back to Sala-Zione. The first few days were relatively uneventful, they encountered a wreck washed up on the beach, but it had already been picked clean by scavengers. On the forth day they encounter a particularly large pack of zoanthropes, perhaps some fifty strong, who proceeded to harry them day and night, driving them further North. Even though they were armed with advanced weapons, the militia were the only ones trained and equipped to fight and against such numbers they felt that retreat was the only option, least they become surrounded and overwhelmed. They were driven North for two days and two nights, until they decided to make a stand by an old ruin perched on a coastal cliff jutting into the sea. The slaughter was great, but in the end their weapons and the advantage of terrain allowed them to prevail with only minimal injuries. Once the threat was passed, they took the time to investigate the ruin. This part of the coast, perhaps some thirty leagues North of Sala-Zione, is seldom used by caravans due to the numerous cliffs and outcroppings of boulders indicative of some enormous ancient disaster which renders travel by vehicle difficult, which explains why the ruin had remained undiscovered till now.
They spent a few days there, resting up after their ordeal, with the Tinkers eagerly investigating. They concluded that the ruin, under the veneer of centuries, was composed of Alloy and Composite, hideously buckled as if by some terrific force and the protruding cliff it was built on was in fact the remains of a much larger collapsed cliff. Excited, they spent some time excavating, moving rocks until they found an access tunnel down. Although many of the areas they encountered were blocked off with rubble or hideously contorted into impassibility they were able to find a large circular chamber with intact equipment, all to large to be removed by foot. Most of the equipment seemed to be large reaction vessels or machines that fed into them. One of the Tinkers skilled in the High Speech proclaimed them to be "Bioreactors". Unable to do any more, they decided to return with this important news. Since they had come this far they decided to follow their original plan and circle East before heading South and home. No more than two days travel to the East they came across the ruins of a large settlement, still smoking. It seems that it had been built of brick, with a stout outer wall and watchtowers. Wary, they circled around and made sure none with ill intent still remained. Finding nothing, they investigated more closely. They found little of use at first, and less bodies than you would would expect for a settlement of this size. Also, here and there they found enormous corpses not dissimilar to the raiders who attacked Sala-Zione not so long ago. In the center of the town they found the evidence of a truly bloody fight. Evidently the townspeople made their final stand there. Among the wreckage they they found the vehicle they returned with. It's a sort of large hauler and the Tinker's tell you that the chassis and engine (a compact fusion powered electric model) were clearly made by the old people but that the bodywork is all crude steel. When they found it it seemed to be wrecked, but upon closer inspection the damage was mostly cosmetic, with the only real problem being that the power line had come loose, rendering the engine inoperative. After some quick repairs they were ready to head home in their new vehicle, but one of the Tinkers had another suggestion. Rather than heading straight back, they should return to the ruin, park on the accessible part of the beach and loot a selection of whatever they could get their hands on. After all, they find might prove to be not that useful or difficult to return to at a later date, so they should bring back samples for further investigation. It was a tough sell, but in the end the militia caved and accepted. They rigged a crude trailer, returned to the ruin and spent some days disassembling and hauling equipment. They took one of the "Bioreactors" and its associated machines and tell you that another six like it remain, as well as all the Alloy and Composite, if you can manage to strip it out. And of course whatever they didn't manage to discover. That they managed to haul all that down the cliff they described impresses you.
This accomplished, they circled North and East again to avoid the impassable terrain and then South to Sala-Zione. They one thing that confuses you is if the missing Tinker wasn't killed by zoanthropes or another threat, then what the hell happened to him? They tell you that when they were arriving back home he climbed onto the roof of the hauler to get a better view and slipped and fell. Apart from a broken leg he'll be fine. They look at you expectantly.
What do you do now?
Alcide Brunelleschi: Family Armor, Laser Rifle, Hover Scout Trike (currently on loan to the Roman Embassy)
Sala-Zione:
Population:996
Major Official Buildings: The Main Building (water desalinization and machine shop), the Control Room (computers that control important stuff), The Reactor (a Sony AFIC MK23.a45 civilian Light Industrial Fusion Reactor) currently at 33.70% of fuel capacity and generating 14.93% of potential full capacity, the Control Tower (once a large coms relay unrelated to the plant but within its walls, now missing its dish and the seat of your government.
Minor Official Buildings: A small steel barrel and chain dock, painted white. A communal workspace with some machine tools, a power line, small simple greenhouse and a small prototype steam engine, three prototype launchers, some prototype mortars and a nearly complete steam engine. One fishing trawler under construction. Currently six Tinkerers and 35 apprentices available for work.
Citizen Owned: A variety of houses, from rich to poor. Many small industries. A dozen tinkerers workshops, A large Solar Forge operating bellow capacity.
State Stores: 3 large caliber linear accelerator rifles, 900 6mm nickel cored Alloy tipped rounds, 19 Kalash Rifles in a poor state of repair, 4850 rounds of ammunition. 37 Arbalests in good repair with 20 pig iron bolts each. 11 crude iron muskets with 20 rounds and powder each. Three satchels of pipe bombs. A large pile of assorted Alloy. A small pile of composite plates. A good stock of basic spare parts and scrap metal. A small stock of essential advanced parts and 24 spare laser power packs. 53,721 L of pure water. 20 Composite rods, three crates of electrical parts. 12 barrels of preserved fruit. A compact and efficient computer unit. 1 pressurized container holding 5kg of HE-3. An ☼armored exosuit☼. A small pile of knives. 6 simple HE rockets of unknown design. Some assorted trade goods (nails, bolts, torches etc). 5 large spools of copper wire. A strange gyroscope.
A heavy hauler, fusion powered electric engine, Alloy chassis and crude steel bodywork. An investigated "Bioreactor".
Health: No diseases of note, an immunity to genetic plagues.
Defenses: Large Circular Pored Stone Wall, in reasonable Repair. 11 breaches filled with crude stone blocks and Alloy plating on the outside, some minor damage near the gatehouse from a recent raid. 30 dedicated Militia with Old Composite Armor and Laser Rifles, 3 out of action due to injuries. 10 town watch armed with truncheons. 2 Rocket launchers with 2 HE and 2 incendiary rockets remaining.
Food Supplies: Adequate. A sudden shortage could cause problems.
If you notice stuff that should be here but isn't, please tell me. Likewise with any suggestions I may have missed. And once again, this isn't dead yet, being the leader of a postapocalyptic settlement is still close to my heart.
Author
Topic: You are a Lord of the Wastes (Read 26146 times)