epidemiology | EVENT ★ GHOST TOWN

BONEYARD JUNCTION

Thanks to efforts from your teammates, the path to Boneyard Junction, the abandoned town at the end of the rail line, has been cleared. The train will not go this far, so recruits will have to walk the rail from the next stop over at the Fracking Fields. Most of the danger has been removed, but there still may be a few straggling giant lizards or bandits along the way, looking for a quick meal or an easy robbery.

The ghost town itself is smaller in scope than Perdition's Rest, with several familiar-looking buildings -- the mayor's office, the sheriff's office, a general store -- but the main difference is that the town is halfway sunken into the desert. The ground here is shifting and unstable, with sinkholes and quicksand a constant threat. Venturing inside the crumbling buildings, left to rot in the desert for the past thirty years, is equally dangerous; there's a good chance that upper stories will simply collapse underfoot or overhead, and many venomous, aggressive reptiles and arachnids have moved in since the Qorral moved out.

The Qorral have not been back here since abandoning it, so there is a lot to scavenge, from tech to money or tools to toys, both businesses and residential buildings are ripe for the plundering. The bandits have been through here in the past three decades many times, stripping the town of many of its valuables, but determined recruits ought to be able to find secret caches or overlooked boxes.

Those who venture into the lowermost parts of buildings, however, will find objects of the greatest value, though not necessarily monetarily -- familiar-looking tech, corroded with sand and rusted with age, is littered about basements filled with sand and debris, as if the further the buildings sank into the desert, something beneath the town rose up to meet it. Upon further inspection, the tech will react when placed next to jewelcomms, lights blinking and static-filled screens turning on: this tech once belonged to ALASTAIR, its age clearly dating it much further back than the Qorral's arrival on this planet.

But before Audentes can investigate further, there's an interruption . . .

AMBUSH

There's a sudden cacophony of shouting and gunfire from all sides of Boneyard Junction as heavily armed figures storm in, on the attack. They aren't from Perdition's Rest. They could be bandits, but bandits usually ask for money first -- plus, these people seem much too well-equipped to be bandits. Their clothing isn't haphazard, their weapons are well cared for.

If recruits survive the initial onslaught (better be good at dodging bullets!) and pay attention to the shouting that can be heard above the gunfire, the identity of the attackers may slowly become clear: they speak of salvation and digging deeply. These are the Deemers.

Previously unseen and ostensibly peaceful, the Deemers are now showing themselves to be anything but. They fight recruits with a savage intensity, injuries seemingly not slowing them down. Their only weakness appears to be injury to the head, after which they will immediately disengage and attempt to flee. Though they shout about salvation as they attack with a religious fervor, they also occasionally say something about recruits getting too close to something -- perhaps something in Boneyard Junction itself.

Jonathan Black, leader of the Deemers, makes an appearance, spouting fire and brimstone in an unnaturally loud voice that can be heard above the gunfire and screaming. Any attempts to confront him will be met with vicious attacks from his bodyguards, a pair of shrouded Deemer women who fight with curved swords. Eventually, though, one recruit manages to break through.

Once Black is dead, the Deemers will fight with more desperation than before, now trying to flee rather than attempting to kill recruits. Any Deemers that are captured will not share information, even under torture; they will only babble about deliverance and redemption found through drilling deeper into the planet. After they are driven off into the desert (or disposed of in other ways), the rest of Boneyard Junction is free to be explored without interruption. Perhaps collecting more ancient ALASTAIR technology will bring answers.

OOC NOTES

IMPORTANT: After the Deemers have been driven away, upon return to Perdition's Rest, Miz Poppy and a vast majority of the saloon workers have mysteriously vanished. The remaining workers have no idea where they've gone. All entertainment at the saloon has been postponed.

Please direct all questions pertaining to the mission to the dossier page to keep questions and responses in one place for easy player reference. General game questions should be directed to the FAQ.

If you haven't already, make sure you check out the Bounty Board for side missions! Remember you can also request bounty missions or submit player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He lives life on the edge, it's fine!!

Except it's clearly not fine right now, Aang yelling at the top of his small child lungs as he sprints forward (while being womanhandled by Fiona) in a mad dash to get away from the feral lizard chasing behind. The town layout isn't exactly great for evading giant lizards but he keeps his eyes peeled for possible exits.]

This way!

[To their left, a dilapidated house with a medium-sized hole in the wall. Big enough for Fiona and Aang to fit through, less so a desert lizard. With any luck, they'll be able to find a room to hide in.]

[Fiona just hopes to space Jesus that she don't trip on a sunken building or something, that would be. Bad. She doesn't really feel like getting eaten by giant fauna today -- in fact, she never really feels like getting eaten by giant fauna; it would really put a damper on the whole "not dying" plan she has for her life -- so she tries to be careful as they barrel through the half-buried town.

The hole in the wall looks promising, or at least it looks promising as far as literally their only option goes, and she dives into it. There's no time to rest; the lizard might not be able to fit through, but it sure as hell is going to try, so Fiona scrambles back, away from the wall and deeper into the house.] Come on, come on. He's really mad, maybe throwing rocks was... not the best plan.

[Throwing rocks is never a good idea, Fiona, come on. But more importantly, dying also doesn't seem like a very good idea to Aang, so he's quick to dive into the hole and dart his way through the dimly-lit house, searching for any sort of dark room to hide in until Mr. Angry Lizard goes away.]

Should we go upstairs? Or into a closet and hide? Or run outside and hope he stops chasing us?

[Help.]

Uh, outside sounds like a bad idea. [The lizard is outside, small child!! Come on.

She hums in thought for a second, then starts up the stairs. He seems like a panicky little dude, so she uses her best Soothing Adult Voice.] This way, but be careful. These houses are old and probably aren't very sturdy.

[Sorry, he is not Chihiro with her small child fount of serenity and knowledge. Also, he's a boy (and therefore very often stupid). But he does take her words to heart, immediately following behind in large leaps and bounds.]

Okay!

[The 'following' part doesn't last long, his airbending-propelled ascent quickly launching him ahead of Fiona and onto the second floor. There he spots a room, door ajar, and immediately books it over.]

This way!

[This way will have to wait, because first: WHAT THE FUCK.

Fiona stops at the top of the stairs, staring at the doorway through which he just vanished.] Did you just fly, I need you to tell me if you can fly.

[And right on cue, a small bald head pops back out, face highly skeptical.]

Of course I can't fly, only Appa can fly.

[Who's Appa? What the heck did he do then? These questions will have to wait (or maybe not wait) as the sound of crashing furniture and shattering glass rise up from downstairs. Looks like the lizard's still in hot pursuit.]

Come onnnnn!

[Joke's on you, she can ask questions and lope gracelessly across the landing. Which she does.]

I'm -- don't tell me what to do, I am so much older than you. [This is meant to sound impressive, not that she's, like, 80. Which she isn't.] If you can't fly, then what was that?

[Wow, what a talented grandma. Truly an inspiration to old women everywhere. Not that Aang really cares how old she is, he's really more focused on staying alive right now.]

It's airbending! I can show you more later if you want, but we really gotta hide somewhere first.

[Behind them, the crashing gets louder.]

[But she wants to know NOW NOW NOkay that's a compelling argument, giant lizards gearing up to crash through the building they are currently in is something she'd like to avoid. Swearing under her breath, she darts into the room and immediately goes over to the window. If they can escape this way...

Which. They probably can't, it's butted right up against the next building. Unless they want to jump down a two-foot-wide shaft of mystery.] Ohh, my god, who built this place.

[Probably some asshole who predicted this exact same situation would crop up 30 years later. (They've got fortune tellers in the Fire Nation, surely they exist here too.) Aang scuttles right up next to Fiona, then groans loudly.]

How're we supposed to get out like this?

[Why. Why is this happening. He is too young to die. Ugh. Well, there's only thing for them to do.]

We're gonna have to jump.

Right. [Of course they are. She stares out the window, down into the dark alleyway. The lizard bangs against the wall downstairs, threatening to make the whole building collapse.] ...right.

[Taking a breath, she glances back at the kid and has a weird feeling like she is about to be responsible for a young boy splattering on the ground, then jumps out the window.]

[For a moment, Fiona freefalls, acted upon only by gravity. Then there's a current of air, strong and abrupt, that cuts through her steady path and sends her sailing to the left. It wraps around her, buffets her, and slows her fall enough that instead of splattering onto the ground into a messy Fiona pancake, she merely hits the ground in a light tumble.

Not ideal, but it'll do.

If she looks up in time, she'll see Aang jump as well, but his descent is far more controlled, almost like he's gently floating down rather than falling.

When he finally makes it down and reaches her side:]

Hey, you okay?

[This kid definitely flies, what a little fuckin' liar.

She's reeling a little from the experience and just kind of nods dumbly, her brain trying to work through what the hell and how the hell and other "the hells." He has blue tattoos -- she glances quickly from his head to his hands -- so is he a Siren? But he can't be, Sirens are always female --

There's a loud cracking sound as the giant lizard finally barrels into the building from which they just escaped, and the thing starts crumbling in on itself. Fiona swears under her breath and jerks her head down the alleyway.] I'm great. Let's get the hell out of here.

EVENT ★ GHOST TOWN

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