(Blackhats) Bushwacking

[Cayce]

After interrogating the stranger with the even stranger name, the Lost of Sacramento left the Forge and ventured out into the heat of the day to tackle this new threat that had apparently arisen. Unfortunately, as they were leaving Daniel was called away on an emergency that couldn't wait. Nevertheless, a quick call helped recruit another member to their rescue party, and so after retrieving whatever gear they needed, the Lost journeyed onward to their one and only lead...

El Rancho Motel.

Sitting off of Interstate 5 on a cracked, sun baked road, the motel was a looming edifice of faux Spanish Colonial architecture, all splotchy, cream colored stucco walls with a low angled red brick roof. When it was first constructed it must have been quite impressive, but the touch of age had not been kind and it was clear that the building hadn't been treated to all of the maintenance that it needed. Perhaps that was why the No Vacancy sign was so boldly displayed beneath the Motel's sign, large enough to be seen from the interstate.

Ro had given them a room key, with the room number on it.

Now, all that was left to do was open the door and see what they could find...

I'm drumming up Daniel's replacement, but in the meantime, please post your entries along with your equipment!

[Malcolm Green]

Green confidently but slowly. Long accustomed to standing out, the mountain had - for the moment - given up the pretence of stealth and simply walked into the Motel like he was a resident. His bag bounced at his hip, bulked up due to the heavy greatcoat, rolled and added its usual contents.

He took his stroll through the cracked and largely empty car park, pausing once to adjust the bulk of his bag more efficiently comfortably. Key in his possession, he had a destination should any nosey muggle deem it worth the effort to stop him. Once he had found the room he closed on the door and made a show of fishing for the key.

The shade offered by the building was welcome. Green luxuriated in the relative cool while he waited for the others to converge on his spot.

Green's bag contains his usual Hedge gear: water bottle, some rations, gardening gloves, an ax, and a few extra bags for goblin fruit. In addition, his greatcoat will be rolled up in the bag - he wares it in the Hedge for protection but it would be very inappropriate to wear at the height of summer.

[Nathan Griffin]

"Green!" he gave the Mountain his usual greeting as he approached. Once he had gotten away from Rho, Nathan's mood began to improve significantly, and he now strutted towards the hotel with an air of ease and affability about him.

He had changed into camo pants, big combat boots and a white, sleeveless T-shirt, and carried a large, bulky backpack over his shoulders. Even so, there was little of use on his person beyond water, some snacks, a jacket, a Swiss knife and a lighter... though the latter's usefulness was mostly restricted to lighting cigarettes. He wasn't worried, though. He had little else of value, and so far he had needed even less to stay alive.

"I'm guessing we're the first," he commented, taking off his sunglasses to get a better look at the building.

[Lesingnon]

Rick could just about have passed for a wandering drifter. Though he supposed that wasn't necessarily far from the truth when he was geared up for traveling through the Hedge. He was even using a walking stick, not that he really needed one. But he did prefer to have a staff on hand when amongst the thorns. The pack on his back had all his basic survival gear, a few extra provisions, his old colt .45, and the various assorted materials he needed to meet the catches for his contracts. To say nothing of the kevlar vest beneath his shirt, along with his trusty old bowie knife. He never entered the Hedge unprepared.

"Yeah, looks like you are. Hopefully everyone else gets here soon. We probably don't want to loiter around out here too long."

[Swami M]

Alex had proclaimed his willingness to aid the Summer Court and the Freehold on several occasions... and now he is finally being asked to back up that promise. He'd gotten the call about strangers in town, kidnapping and the prospect of some black diamond slaloms through the Hedge. He's pretty much just gotten the call up to the Big Leagues...

He tries to hide his nervousness as he greets the small group already waiting outside the motel. He keeps his voice low. "Hi, everybody. I got the call to come out here, that we need to be ready for a, uh, camping trip. And yes, I've been filled in on the basics."

Alex is wearing jeans, a denim work shirt, a leather jacket, army surplus combat boots and a baseball cap. He's carrying a hiking stick and a day pack with two water bottles, basic rations (power bars and jerky), flashlight, cigarette lighter, whistle, small mirror, sunglasses, rain poncho, small can of insect repellent, basic first aid kit, work gloves, two extra pairs of socks, roll of toilet paper, several Ziplok bags (one containing the TP) and a small garden spade to use as an entrenching tool. He also has his Summer pocketknife and rose necklace.

[InvertedMonkey]

Thanks for your patience regarding my little bout of slow-posting.

Ramona follows behind Alex, having taken a moment to get her things from the car. An almost military-style bag hugs her shoulders over her leather jacket, containing most of her gear. A few long, slim bags held in one hand hiding the items that wouldn't fit. Namely her rifle and bastard sword, both perfectly legal for her possession, but less conspicuous in these than in their purpose-designed carry bags. She'll unwrap them once they're safely in the Hedge and away from mortal eyes. She glances at the assembled party, noting with a quick head-count that everyone's here. "Hey guys. Good to see you. Let's step inside, yeah?" she nods to the door.

Equipment

Ramona is wearing tough clothing (mainly in the form of her leather jacket and chaps) worth Armor 1/0, her mantle is worth another +1/1 Armor. What she's bringing to this party; an urban survival kit, a first-aid kit, her rifle, her revolver (in a concealed holster) with speedloaders and her license, a Bowie knife, a crash axe, a machete, a bastard sword, a medieval shield, a set of zip ties, a roll of duct tape, ammo for her firearms, and her summer pocket knife..

In addition, I’d like to request bring along the following items of negligible (or undefined) Resources value that are thus not explicitly on Ramona’s character sheet, if I may have your permission to do so: A pair of work gloves, a small box of latex gloves, her cell phone, a cheap lighter, two flashlights, a bottle of water, a few energy bars, a stick of chalk, a small roll of heavy-duty garbage bags, and a good length of rope.

She's also carrying standard pocket stuff, like wallet and keys, and a packet of matches.

Note that as Ramona has a certain amount of weapon-redundancy, anyone's free to borrow her machete and/or crash axe for the duration of the mission.

[Malcolm Green]

Green grunts and opens the door.

As before, he stands sentinel to one side of the portal and allows the rest of the party to enter first. Only once the other Lost have entered the suite does the mountain squeeze this way through.

"So... What we got here?"

As before, with my schedule so half hazard, I'll let you all go first before I post.

[Lesingnon]

Stepping inside sounded good to him. He kinda had the feeling that groups of individuals loitering around here wasn't necessarily a particularly noteworthy event...but that likely just meant they were used to suspicious activity around here, not that they didn't consider it suspicious. So the sooner they were out of sight the better.

So as Green stood to the side Rick slipped past him into the room. He didn't step straight in, not wanting to risk disturbing the scene before he got a good look at it. Instead he took a simple step to the side to keep the interior of the doorway clean, and let his gaze play across the room to take in the scene that awaited them.

[Cayce]

The keycard slid into the lock with ease and before long the small green light near the top of the lock began to flash. The handle to the room bent easily downward and the door swung open to reveal a room that was, as Ro had described, completely trashed. The bed was skewed at an odd angle, the sheets a tangled mess stained with dark brown splotches that continued on the carpet, the television was laying shatterned on the ground, the bedside tables were smashed, the closet had been opened, and the scent of scorched material hung in the air.

The smell became strongest near the bathroom, a room that appeared to be untouched and in perfect, 'maybe cleaned sometime this week' motel order. The little bars of soap were even still in their wrappers, and only the hand towel appeared to have been used...

Anyone with Hedgegate Sense can tell the Bathroom Doorway has been turned into a gate. Anyone else can give me some Kenning to learn the same. Also, wits+investigation for anyone curious about what happened in the room.

[Lesingnon]

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-08-14 23:00:43		Rick Pereg rolls 7 to Wits + Investigation (10 Again)		10, 7, 1, 6, 1, 3, 9, 3		2 successes