PSE RPG Chatroom - 2024-05-25

Ginger

18:00

:3

Sciborg

o3o

AncientSwordRage

I'm here!

Mithical

\o

AncientSwordRage

I'll need to praye once we're home but I won't be long (I wasn't planning on being home late)

bobble

o/

Mithical

18:02

@bobble did you see the note I just sent you on Discord?

Ginger

aaaaaagh I forgot to come up with things

bobble

yup

Mithical

cool cool

Ginger

I'll do it today, definitely :p

bobble

where are the others? I assume I'm currently in the car

Ginger

18:03

Alex is in the car with you

Mithical

We resume with the good doctor and Jack having been slightly injured by some malevolent seaweed, as Alex recovers from a... vision, and Darrion is sitting in the car.

May 18 at 20:02, by Sciborg

"...On my chair, don't touch it." For once Brune is grateful that his wheels are covered in sand. "Let's go, come on now..."

AncientSwordRage

Jack, not needing to be told twice, follows the good doctor back to the car

Mithical

Alex and Darrion are in the car. Jack and Brune are on the beach, heading back towards the car.

Sciborg

"Darrion," Brune says, briskly, as they near the car and he hauls Jack towards the side door; he looks extremely haggard and sounds like he's barely holding himself together. "I'm sorry, lad, but we need your help. Jack needs help getting in the car, keep the pressure on his arm, we need water and some clean linens - don't get near the chair -"

AncientSwordRage

"I can get in the car, Doc... I'll be ok"

Ginger

18:06

(where's Darri sitting?)

bobble

Darrion shakes out of his disassociation. He coughs, shifts in the seat to get more comfortable. Something's itchy, probably a seam from clothes that weren't intended for running around with heavy carts. "mm, where?"

Mithical

@Ginger front seat

Ginger

Alex opens the side door and slides over to the other side of the car.

Sciborg

"All right, all right." Brune pats his good arm awkwardly, seeming like he's trying to apologize. "Get in, hurry. Is there any objection to transporting our friend to the hospital immediately? Darrion, can you drive?"

Ginger

"I can drive... in theory"

bobble

18:07

The sound catches Darrion's attention. He glances over, gaze lingering just a bit too long, as if confirming what Alex looks like.

AncientSwordRage

Jack gets into the driver's seat, "I'm driving doc."

bobble

"I can...I mean, got a license... haven't in some time..."

Sciborg

Brune eyes Jack nervously, seeming to want to object to his patient climbing into a vehicle right after bleeding horribly, but then remembers that Jack shares a lot in common with him - that is, he's not one to ask for help much either - and lets it go. "Let's get going, then."

Ginger

Alex is hurriedly cleaning up the detritus from their meal. They're extremely tempted to lick the plate.

AncientSwordRage

"Where too, are we still taking Alex...where exactly?"

Sciborg

18:09

"The food, Alex." Brune looks over at them. "Did it help at all? How do you feel?"

Ginger

how do I feel? :p

Mithical

@Ginger Ravenous.

Ginger

fantastic

"Still.. still hungry"

AncientSwordRage

@bobble (Jack got there first, but I can ret-con?)

Ginger

"The fish was missing something, y'know?"

bobble

18:12

@AncientSwordRage go ahead

Sciborg

"...Normally someone with your level of advanced malnutrition wouldn't even be able to stand without collapsing," Brune says, with a note in his voice that implies he's decided this is some kind of supernatural ailment and not a physical one. "If the food didn't help you, I think we ought to get some fluids in you. Hospital. For both of you."

bobble

someone else started sending urgent messages right as session started

AncientSwordRage

@bobble (👍)

bobble

so you know that's fun, I was only reading stuff that directly talked to me

Ginger

"Wh... hospital?"

AncientSwordRage

18:12

Jack pulls away, heading to the hospital

@bobble (happens to the best of us ☺️)

Sciborg

@bobble (it's all good, bobble - easy to retcon things in text <3)

Ginger

Alex has a look of concern on their face. "Can we... not? Maybe go think things over a bit"

"Find some more food, maybe! That sounds nice"

bobble

"Alex, how much've you already eaten?"

Sciborg

"I am open to alternate suggestions," Brune says, tersely, "but Mr. Rivers needs medical treatment immediately. That can be arranged at other locations, but we need to get him somewhere with a kit and bandages - mmph." He grips his arm tightly to his chest and trails off, grimacing.

Ginger

"Not enough! Not enough. I need more."

@Sciborg "Sure, sure. We can find somewhere else with those, right?"

AncientSwordRage

18:16

@Sciborg "I've had much worse, I'm sure the bleeding will stop soon"

bobble

Darrion mutters something about "worse than Lily at pizza night" under his breath. Louder, he asks, "Anything I can do, Doc?"

Sciborg

"All right, then." Brune massages his forearm painfully as he speaks. "Where do you propose?"

Ginger

Alex did not anticipate this question.

"Uh. Somewhere that. Isn't the hospital?"

Sciborg

Brune glances at Darrion and gestures, wearily, to the chair. "That seaweed, don't make skin contact - we need it as a sample." Then, to Alex, "There are few places I would consider safe here, but I imagine my hosts wouldn't mind me bringing guests, if you want to fetch pills and medical supplies from my arrangements. Or we could return to the hotel - I can't imagine they would not have emergency supplies."

Ginger

"Either of those sounds fine... do your hosts have any food, perchance?"

Sciborg

18:19

"They have that and whiskey, my dear fellow," Brune says wearily, with a heavy implication in his voice that he would very much like some right now.

Ginger

Alex is not the drinking type

bobble

Nor Darri

Sciborg

"I will go where you go," Brune murmurs, exhausted, and rubs his arm again. He sounds like he has lost the energy to debate any further. He glances out at the water again, trying to catch a glimpse of the boat that was pulling in.

AncientSwordRage

"I'm off drinking since Andromeda's Sorrow"

bobble

Having located some fabric scraps from his bag, Darrion collects the seaweed into a compact pile, then covers it with fabric for extra safety

Mithical

18:22

@Sciborg It is large and approaching quickly. Make an EDU check.

Ginger

Alex flips the radio on again.

Sciborg

@Mithical Finally getting to use my best ability score and I roll terribly, 84 against 80.

Mithical

@Ginger Ed Sheeran is crooning something about being perfect.

Ginger

good for him

Mithical

@Sciborg It's a boat. And it's getting closer.

Ginger

18:24

Alex glances out the window at the imposing silhouette of the boat.

Sciborg

Thank you, medical education, for that information.

bobble

Darrion again looks at Alex worridly

Ginger

"Is, uh... is that boat a little close, or is that just me?"

Sciborg

"...Just a quick lie down and I'll be right as rain, I think..." Brune mumbles, sounding like he is talking more to himself than anyone else.

Ginger

"Maybe it has fish. A fishing boat."

bobble

18:27

"Doc, you sure you alright?"

Sciborg

Normally Brune would offer some polite deflection or demur something about having Scottish constitution. This time, Brune wordlessly shakes his head.

AncientSwordRage

"So are we going to Docs?" Jack has pulled over while they discuss

bobble

"Remember, you're a good doctor?" Darrion tilts the end of the sentence upward, as if unsure

Ginger

"mhm"

Sciborg

The phrase that normally lifts him out of his haze seems to have no effect. Brune just looks tired.

Ginger

18:30

aren't we all

Mithical

It's... about 2:45 in the afternoon.

bobble

"Doc, Doc?"

AncientSwordRage

@bobble Jack turns to Darrion, "I'm not sure we're going to be getting much out of him"

Mithical

So where are y'all headed now?

Sciborg

Brune massages his forehead with his palm and seems to revive a little. Something about the stress of everything that just happened and several of his new companions getting injured and not being able to help everyone and being in pain and not knowing what to do just seems to be emotionally draining him, but he musters some strength and says, "That seaweed, Darrion. Your laboratory..."

Ginger

18:34

still got about three hours of insanity left, hooray

bobble

"You want to go to my lab? Dr. Bardot might've revoked my key card access to the building... but, y'know, we could just wait outside..."

Ginger

"mmmh, I bet there's not food there." Alex sounds very disappointed by this tragic oversight.

AncientSwordRage

@Ginger "We can order some food to the laboratory," Jack says not seeing anything wrong with that statement, "Let's go," and Jack starts to drive, and quite fast

@bobble "I think I remember the way, just shout if I'm going wrong..."

bobble

Any events on campus that would involve food?

Ginger

Alex is shoved back into their seat slightly by the acceleration

mobile chat continues to have a vendetta against me

Mithical

18:38

@bobble Without any communications, you have no way of knowing, but it's unlikely.

However, the places to buy food on campus should still be operating.

Sciborg

Brune leans back in the seat, apparently resigning himself to pushing onwards, and massages his face with his palm again. He feels a strange sense of irony that in the one moment he was trying to persuade everyone to stop and rest, they had the same reaction he normally would, and kept going. I must have rubbed off on them, he muses.

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage Make a Drive check, given your injured arm.

AncientSwordRage

"At sea, I saw a man get tangled in some ropes and almost got degloved, I damn near lost a finger untangling him" Jack says casually as he's speeding asking

bobble

With the vague sense that this is a terrible idea, Darrion notes, "There's that one dining hall the undergrads can get into for buffets... problem is, it's real bloody expensive if you don't have a dining plan..."

AncientSwordRage

@Mithical (28 Vs 20, failure)

Sciborg

18:42

Brune winces silently to himself, remembering the last time he treated a degloving injury.

Ginger

Alex quietly mumbles "easy on the gas"; the acceleration is making them feel a bit ill

AncientSwordRage

(scratch that, I'll drop 8 luck into it, @Mithical)

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage Are you sure? The consequences here are relatively minor.

Ginger

you're burning a lot of luck :p

AncientSwordRage

@Mithical (in that case, scratch me saying scratch that)

bobble

18:43

Trying a different tactic, Darrion tries offering something for Doc to do: "Doc, hey, something weird happened to my phone, want to theorize?"

Ginger

leaning a bit on the fourth wall there

AncientSwordRage

"So really," Jack continues waggling his injuries, "It's not all that bad!"

Sciborg

"My dear lad," Brune murmurs, seeming to come out of himself a little, "you may as well ask me to defuse a missile for all the help I might provide with technology." But he takes the phone regardless.

Ginger

"wuh?"

bobble

Darrion flips to the photos from a year ago with Alex in it. "Their hair went weird... white, like" gestures "when I was in the car"

(@Mithical, what does it look like now?)

Ginger

18:46

wrong pronouns :p (also WHAT)

Sciborg

Brune stares blankly at Darrion, wondering if everyone in this car has now officially lost their minds. "...Come again, lad?"

Mithical

@bobble The photo looks normal.

Going quickly, you zoom through the streets. Suddenly, around a bend, another vehicle appears, slightly over the median. Jack wrenches the wheel, slamming on the brakes. The car swerves and skids; you come to a stop on the side of the road, slightly dazed and shaken, but mostly unhurt. The car has some scratches and a couple new dents, but it should still work.

bobble

"When I was in the car. The phot came up. Alex's hair went white, then teeth went, uh, pointy?, and, then it was normal."

AncientSwordRage

"Everyone ok..." Jack manages

Ginger

Alex attempts to ask some question about what Darrion means, but is rudely interrupted by the back of his seat's headrest

Mithical

18:49

Right outside, a GONG... GONG... GONG marks the hour, as you sit on the side of the road, next to a walled-off construction zone.

bobble

"Think so?" (am I?)

Ginger

"mmmph, ouch"

Sciborg

Brune is thrown back a few inches against the seat and utters a sound that might have been a curse, gripping the armrests and clinging to the chair white-faced and trembling. "...Good God," he manages, unsteadily. "What was that?"

Ginger

They feel even more nauseous now

Mithical

@bobble Shaken, and you may have dropped your phone, but unhurt.

bobble

18:50

"Yep, I'm" smile "tickety-boo."

Ginger

"ok uh, I heard my name?"

AncientSwordRage

@Sciborg "Another idiot on the road,"

Sciborg

Brune looks pale and shaky, as if this is bringing back some older flashbacks from many years ago. He pulls himself painfully up back to a sitting position. "...Everyone is all right?"

Ginger

"I feel nauseous..."

bobble

"Tickety-boo" Darrion repeats.

AncientSwordRage

18:53

"Peachy, shall we get going again?"

Sciborg

Brune falls silent, looking extremely unnerved.

Ginger

more than usual? :b

AncientSwordRage

"I'll be more careful this time, Doc"

(need to pray briefly, brb)

bobble

Still smiling, (Darrion is happy at his slightly weird vocabulary, because it's personal to him), he says, "Yup."

Sciborg

The fundamental sense of wrongness begins to cling to Brune again as he surveys his eerily nonchalant friends. He clenches the seat rests a bit tighter.

Ginger

18:55

Alex is pretty far from nonchalant

Sciborg

Well, besides Alex :p

Either Darrion and Jack have gone thoroughly mad, or I have, Brune muses nervously to himself. He's not sure which one it is anymore.

bobble

"Doc, breathe?"

Sciborg

Brune attempts valiantly to breathe deeply, even though it sounds more like a pained wheeze. Somehow he feels as if some unknown deity is conspiring to make him as uncomfortable as possible.

bobble

(Darrion is slightly mad but only at the normal level for a grad student :p)

Mithical

@Sciborg *sips coffee*

3

Ginger

19:00

"What were you saying about photos?" Alex presses

AncientSwordRage

(back)

Sciborg

For some reason, Brune's tattered psyche wanders back to the kidney patient. The unsolved thread in his mind keeps irking him, like an itch he can't scratch. Something went wrong and he doesn't know what. The only people in the room were him and Julia...

His breathing clenches and his chest goes tight again, and the murky revelation hovering on the edge of his subconscious fades.

bobble

"A photo of you in my phone - from that dino-themed prom the paleontologists put on, remember? - showed you hair like it is now, with the" wave "white stuff. But a year ago. Then it went back to normal"

Ginger

"Uh. Okay? That's weird"

(I take it this is a bobble-specific revelation? :p)

bobble

(mith I have declared that there are paleontologists and they held a prom, you can't stop me mwah hah hah the worldbuilding power has gone to my head)

AncientSwordRage

19:02

Jack slowly pulls away, "Wait, did that clock strike four times?" And he checks the time on the car clock

bobble

(mith DM'ed me what my phone showed)

Ginger

(I'm going to need some more details about that event though, if I'm supposed to remember it)

oh you made it up from whole cloth

nvm then lol

Mithical

@Ginger Feel free to invent them :)

bobble

(mwah hah hah)

Mithical

(I simply said there was an event and left the details up to bobble)

Ginger

19:03

:p

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage It says 3:00.

Sciborg

"Please -" Brune bursts suddenly, as if the word had been trying to force its way up for several minutes and only now just burst free. He clenches his jaw and tries valiantly to control himself. "...Can you please... you can go to the university, just drop me off... I need to be alone. The house. Just for an hour or two. Please?" He sounds desperate, pleading.

Ginger

Alex looks at their phone for the time.

Mithical

@Ginger It says 3:00.

Ginger

They glance at Brune's outburst with a tired expression, but remain quiet.

AncientSwordRage

19:05

@Sciborg "Doc," Jack says with practiced levelness, "Bless is not the time for anyone to be on their own"

Jack has heard that tone before, and doesn't like it. Resolutely he says, "We're all here for you... For eachother. Whatever this weirdness is, I feel like it doesn't get resolved unless we stick together"

bobble

"Doc, please don't leave."

Sciborg

Brune subsides, shaking, chest rising and falling unsteadily. He inhales slowly and tries to return his mind to order. "I cannot..." He trails off, leaving it unclear what it is he cannot do, exactly.

AncientSwordRage

"Anyway Doc, maybe this will take your mind of things," Jack says more lightly than before, "Why'd the clocks strike an extra time?"

Sciborg

"What?" Brune says, hesitantly.

AncientSwordRage

"Four chimes... Or gongs... But look, it's 3pm"

bobble

19:10

Darrion hunts through his bag to see if he has a stress ball for Doc. (Luck roll?)

Mithical

@bobble Sure.

Sciborg

"...Oh." Brune valiantly gathers himself up. "That's interesting."

AncientSwordRage

"It's not daylight savings for a while yet," He says still driving, "And don't know if it's been wrong before either"

bobble

Darrion wordlessly passes a stress ball to Doc. It's a little squishy blue rubber thing with raised/colored markings to look like a cartoon whale.

3

Mithical

Jack, can you make a Sanity roll, please? Just a d100 compared to your current Sanity score, not an Intelligence roll for insanity.

Sciborg

19:12

"They rang three times for eleven o' clock once, if memory serves." Brune sounds like a different part of him, a still stable part, is delivering the words by rote. He looks down vaguely at the offered stress ball, recognizes it as the kind he would give children when they were scared before surgery, and something about that seems to suddenly center him, calm him down. He smiles a faintly old-Brune smile and quietly takes it and squeezes it a few times.

AncientSwordRage

@Mithical 40 Vs 67 (success)

Mithical

In the meantime, by around 3:15, you're pulling up back at the university, which you'd left around an hour prior, now with seafood and some new injuries.

AncientSwordRage

@Sciborg As they pull up, Jack says "When else have we heard it, can you remember?“ it's more obvious that Jack is trying to occupy Brune.

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage Thinking back on it, there may only have been three gongs from the bell. What Jack thought was the fourth may have been from the car hitting the guardrail.

Sciborg

Brune gently cradles the stress whale as if it is the most precious gift in the world. When he next speaks, he sounds much more stable. "I can't recall. I've been thinking about those bells."

AncientSwordRage

19:16

@Mithical (👀)

bobble

"What were you thinking?"

"Sorry, I was out of it at the beach, wasn't I?"

Sciborg

"I don't think that is out of the ordinary for us, Mr. Jenny," Brune says, sounding like his old self again. He tucks the stress whale into his breast pocket next to his reading glasses, so that there is a little happy whale face poking out of the coat of an otherwise grim doctor. "I have been thinking. We have heard those bells so often in our dreams. They seem to be what life in this place centers on. Time, the passage of it."

AncientSwordRage

@Sciborg Jack starts the process of unloading and assembling the wheelchair, "Maybe just now it was three... But I'm sure it's rung odd times before..."

Now out of the car, Jack faces the reality that he's been walking with his cane, "You go ahead, I'll catch you up"

bobble

Is campus busy?

Ginger

Alex wordlessly climbs out of the car, seeming slightly unsteady on their feet.

Sciborg

19:21

"Your cane is in the basement, Mr. Rivers, if memory serves. I don't suppose we could fetch it before we..." As Brune pulls himself over to the door to slide into the chair, the thought from earlier floats back, making him trail off. Julia... it was her and I... and that morning, that surgery...

Mithical

@bobble Not at all. The campus is mostly deserted, with only a few stragglers walking around or sitting with books. People's expressions are worried or confused, for the most part.

AncientSwordRage

"Let's all get in before running any extra errands," noticing Brune trailing off

Sciborg

...I left her alone with him... Brune settles down into his still slightly-sandy chair, brushing some off the wheels again, and stares off into space, as if some great revelation has just dawned on him. ...and that morning...

AncientSwordRage

"Doc...?"

bobble

Darrion pulls the whale back out and all but shoves it into Doc's hand

Sciborg

19:24

Brune's mouth presses into a tight line, panic sweeping over his face as if he has just put several pieces together, but then as quickly as it comes, he calmly resumes his normal expression. "...I'm quite all right, Mr. Rivers." Then, to Alex, "You can hold onto my chair if you need, it can take it."

He squeezes the stress whale tightly.

Ginger

Alex does not look very fine

"I'm... I'm fine, just hungry"

Sciborg

"You said the food was missing something," Brune prompts, hoping for more details about what's wrong with them.

bobble

What's the nearest food place?

AncientSwordRage

Jack starts hobbling towards the building

Ginger

"Yeah, something... I don't know how to say it "

Mithical

19:27

@bobble There's a sandwich place that's more-or-less on the way to the lab.

AncientSwordRage

"Come on, nobody's getting any younger here" Jack says over his shoulder

bobble

"Well, there's a food truck on the way that has a truly concerning variety of sandwiches to choose from, how's that sound?"

Sciborg

"As long as we can get them some seafood, it can't hurt to try." Brune starts rolling behind Jack, knowing better than to offer to him that he can hold onto the chair. He knows that Jack, like him, can advocate for what he needs, and he would have said something if he had wanted help. It's as simple as that. "Don't forget the seaweed, lad."

Ginger

"I like how that sounds"

"Maybe it'll have the whatever-it-is"

Mithical

Whoever's taking the seaweed, I need a DEX check to safely transport it.

bobble

19:29

Darrion wrapped it in cloth and, um, rolled a 99

Sciborg

Oh

bobble

that's not good

Ginger

oh dear

bobble

His DEX is 60

not that it matters

Mithical

That is a critical failure.

Sciborg

19:30

oh no

Ginger

👀

Mithical

Darrion, the next few seconds are not going to be fun.

3

You wrap the seaweed in cloth, securing it around the edges with a piece of string so that it won't unravel or fall out.

You then proceed to pick it up and begin to walk towards the lab building (or the food truck).

After you walk a few steps, you notice a strange pull on your arm - as if someone grabbed your arm from behind.

The sensation is matched by a similar feeling on your leg.

And then the pain sets in.

Wrapped around your arms and your legs, the seaweed digs into your skin, like needles burrowing in and grabbing hold. Tangled, the seaweed pulling at your legs, you fall over, further embedding it.

Please roll a d4 to see if it comes into contact with your face. On a 1-2 it does, on a 3-4 it does not.

bobble

Darrion lets out a very undignified squeak. "Doc....?"

Mithical

You also take 1d8+2 damage, the blood seeping out from under the seaweed and running down to the ground.

bobble

Rolled a 3; 11-(3+2) = 6 current HP

Sciborg

19:36

Brune swivels around sharply on hearing that, and his face goes completely white. "Darrion!" he bellows, with undisguised anguish. He rolls at top speed back towards him like the chair is on fire. "Lad, don't move, don't move!"

bobble

@Mithical rolled a 4 for this

"Not gonna be a problem, Doc"

Ginger

Alex jumps away, white as a sheet. "God- what?!"

Sciborg

"Oh, Christ, damnit -" Brune knows better than to rip it off this time, and hovers agitatedly, trying to diagnose the extent of the wound.

AncientSwordRage

Jack turns round sharply, wincing as that pulls the nerves in his back, and pursing his lips in pain starts walking back, have strode some distance already

Ginger

"Can we not go an hour without injuring ourselves?" They turn away; the grisly scene isn't helping their nausea.

Mithical

19:38

There are screams as the few other people around notice what has happened, some vainly trying to call for an ambulance.

@Sciborg Darrion needs immediate medical attention or he's going to pass out from blood loss.

AncientSwordRage

"Alex, my good fellow," Jack says remembering how Doc spoke, "I'm going to need my cane if I'm going to be of any use. Or enough vikadin to knock out a horse"

Sciborg

"Don't pull at it, lad, don't touch it - it's all right, it's all right -" Brune sounds like he's in tears. "He's lost too much blood - Jack, how far are we from the hospital -"

bobble

"Hey... if anyone knows Kiko... tell her?" Darrion tries to yell at the onlookers but his voice isn't quite that strong.

AncientSwordRage

@Sciborg "Give me a moment," Jack is clearly still trying to shake off the nerve pain

Ginger

"Your cane, right... where is it?" Alex is, for the moment, less concerned with their hunger than with Darrion; his anguish seems to have distracted them

AncientSwordRage

19:41

@Ginger "Your office... Be back before any ambulances turn up..."

bobble

"Not tickety-boo! hehehehe" Darrion might be going a little woozy from blood loss and pain

AncientSwordRage

"Doc, it's at least 30 minutes away" (@Mithical, how far?)

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage No ambulances are going to show up; none of the phones are working. You're going to either have to administer medical aid here or somehow transport Darri to the hospital.

Ginger

Alex takes off for their office, or at least where they think it is

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage At least a half hour if not more, especially given Jack's injury and the earlier close call.

AncientSwordRage

19:43

@Mithical (I'll edit that in)

"I can drive, but not fast"

Sciborg

"The ambulances aren't coming," Brune barks, trying valiantly to get low enough to reach Darrion to start doing what he can and struggling. "Ah, God, damnit -" With a valiant push, he pushes himself most of the way out of the chair, collapses in a half-heap beside Darrion supporting himself half-upright with his trembling good arm, and starts trying to stop the bleeding as quickly as he can.

bobble

"he... he...... he............."

Mithical

Brune, you do know that there should at least be some rudimentary medical supplies here, since there is a med school program here. It's not the same as a full operating theater, but you may be able to pull something off.

AncientSwordRage

"Does anyone have a pocket knife" Jack booms to the assembled onlookers

Ginger

Alex bursts through the doors of the closest building and looks around for a stairwell down into the tunnels

AncientSwordRage

19:45

Then to Brune, "Doc, what are you... Can we cut it off?"

Sciborg

"I need something sharp!" Brune bellows. "Now!"

Can I make a First Aid check to try and administer aid?

Mithical

You can make a First Aid or Medicine check. A success will stabilize Darrion for the moment, a Hard Success will make progress towards getting the seaweed off, and an Extreme success will prevent Darri from passing out.

bobble

"Docdocdocdocdoc can i - whale?"

4

Sciborg

Brune presses the whale into Darrion's hand; it's hard to see through the tears, but he manages. "It's all right, lad, it's all right, we're here..."

25 against 61. (First Aid)

Ginger

@Ginger should I roll for this?

Mithical

19:48

@Sciborg Someone rushes up and presses a Swiss Army knife into your hand.

bobble

Darri squeezes the whale to the extent he can

Mithical

@Sciborg That is a Hard Success.

You staunch the bleeding somewhat. Darri, your shirt is a loss; it's been torn into makeshift bandages, wrapped around your arms, legs, and torso. Other clothes are brought and are also torn or cut into bandages. You cut off some of the seaweed, carefully depositing the pieces out of the way, Jack helping to make sure nobody gets too close.

Sciborg

Brune works with a feverish speed, tears rolling down his face unashamedly. Darrion getting hurt like this is the sort of thing that should only happen in a nightmare, not in real life.

Ginger

I will assume that no roll is required :p

bobble

"whale-ale-ale-ale" Darrion's voice fades; he had been trying to say things so Doc would know whether he was conscious, but it's getting harder.

Mithical

19:51

@Ginger Sorry. No, no roll required, you know your way around.

Sciborg

"It's all right, lad, it's all right, easy..." Brune clutches his hand tightly as he works. "Breathing, breathing, lie still, don't move..."

Mithical

@bobble You are about to pass out, unfortunately; the pain is still overwhelming.

bobble

"whaleeeeeeeeeeeee" conks out

the whale falls to the ground as his grip slackens

Ginger

Alex heads down into the tunnels, moving as quickly as they can. Right, right, straight, left, straight, 527192 on the lock, straight past the closet...

Sciborg

Brune grips his neck to check his pulse, his shirt and face wet with tears. He scoops up the whale. "Jack, if we can get him into the medical school area, lay him down, they might have supplies..."

Ginger

19:53

They arrive at their office panting and out of breath. Jack's cane lies in the corner, and their computer sits, inviting, still unlocked and waiting for a command.

bobble

(did we leave the cart outside? the one we used to transport Alex)

Mithical

The pulse is weak, but still there. He needs fluids and possibly oxygen.

@bobble Let's call that a luck roll to see if it's still there.

Sciborg

"The hospital would have blood and oxygen, but if it's too far..." Brune trails off, chest heaving with sobs. He doesn't seem able to think straight.

bobble

42 vs Luck of 35 :(

Mithical

It is not a good day for Darrion.

3

bobble

19:55

I see that you've decided to punish me for missing a session

Mithical

:(

Ginger

:(

AncientSwordRage

@Sciborg "Do the labs have blood... oxygen?"

Sciborg

Do they?

Ginger

Alex grabs the cane, glancing at the screen on their way out to see if anything's changed.

AncientSwordRage

19:56

@Mithical is it safe for Jack to pick Darrion up?

Mithical

Probably not, but you can likely set up an IV drip to at least start getting fluids in.

bobble

Some (very few) of the labs' storage areas/freezers would, but the only person around who would know which ones is currently unconscious.

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage It's going to require some delicate care.

Sciborg

Brune pushes himself half-upright and starts clawing into the parking lot with pure arm strength, teeth gritted, trying to lift his uncooperative body back towards his chair.

bobble

also the labs' blood would likely be part of very constrained experimental protocols so you couldn't take it legally

AncientSwordRage

19:58

@Sciborg Jack does his best to help Brune up

Mithical

@Ginger Nothing's changed.

AncientSwordRage

"I don't think I can carry Darrion right now..."

Mithical

The connection issues don't appear to have been resolved, and your computer is simply idling, waiting.

Ginger

They quickly enter a shortcut to lock it, and take the same route back and out (nearly tripping on the stairs).

Sciborg

"...Thank... you..." With massive effort, Brune painfully pushes himself back into his chair and sags there as if all the strength has gone out of him. It's not the first time he has had to lunge down to help a patient, but usually Vance would pull him back up. "We need someone to lift him. Alex is fetching the cane..."

AncientSwordRage

19:59

(can we call it, and finish next time?)

@Sciborg (final message) "If I can lean on my cane, that's a different matter"

Ginger

"Jack! I've got it!"

Mithical

@AncientSwordRage (thumbsup)

thanks y'all

Sciborg

poor darrion ;-;

Mithical

@bobble are you okay with this turn of events?

bobble

welp so Darri is out of commission temporarily

Ginger

20:01

well

that was. a session of all time

bobble

I'm fine, but hopefully I can still roleplay next session even as hurt as I am

maybe I have a dream while unconscious

Mithical

@bobble :)

bobble

oh no

Ginger

oh no

Sciborg

oh no

bobble

20:02

maybe I have a nice, restful sleep and wake up sans dream

Mithical

I always feel a little guilty making y'all take damage, but we're at a point in the campaign where the rolls are starting to have consequences

bobble

I rolled a crit fail, it was very fair

Ginger

Alex is not coming within ten feet of that seaweed if they can help it

Sciborg

That felt very what I expected for a critical fail with a dangerous substance, all things considered

Mithical

horror seaweed is gonna horror seaweed

Sciborg

20:05

it has been an Exceedingly Bad Day

Ginger

indisputably

bobble

however at least we now have an Anti-Stress Whale

Ginger

small victories

bobble

and a canonical dino prom

Ginger

the real question is what alex was doing at the dino prom :p

Mithical

20:17

@Ginger That is the beauty of improv RPGs... you get to decide ;)

bobble

it had free food

also you could've been on a date

Ginger

free food seems more likely :b

Mithical

Now that we've had the relevant scenes, here's what I described:

You're sitting, staring at your phone, looking at the last text to Kiko that's bounced. Nothing's been working; there's been no connection, no service, no messages getting in or out. No internet access. No phone calls. And yet... a notification pops up.

It's a photos app, bringing up a memory. "One year ago today", it says.

Upon opening it, you are greeted with a slideshow of photos from an event that happened on campus. There had been music, dancing, food - although not alcohol, due to university policies. The photos click past - you with Kiko, Kiko and Lily (her girlfriend), some blurry…

Ginger

oh, that's great :D

surely this doesn't mean anything

Mithical

(Ignore the overuse of the phrase "and yet".)

Ginger

20:19

I didn't notice until you mentioned it lol

Mithical

I unfortunately entirely forgot that I had meant to send bobble something that would explain Darrion's preoccupation during the previous session until about twenty minutes before the session started

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