Doctor Who - The Colour of Fear

[Raven Crowking]

THE COLOUR OF FEAR

EPISODE ONE

“I bet no one’s been this deep before,” Perry called up. He craned his neck to look up the shaft at Scott. There was only a faint light from his friend’s helmet. “I’m at the bottom…or a ledge here. Looks like there’s a horizontal passage. Come on down!”

Perry waited while Scott rappelled down the long shaft to where he stood. He wished he could smoke, but smoking wasn’t good for the caves. Both young men were members of the New England Student Speleologists Club – a group that got together to find new caves, scout out new passages, and generally brag about what they had done.

Bragging was often done informally at the pub over pints. While the need for safety had been drilled into them from their professorial sponsors (comprising academics from several New England State Universities), the Club members were prone to ignore certain facets of protocol. Because of the rivalries in the Club, some members had taken to poaching on others’ expeditions if they announced them ahead of time. Neither Perry nor Scott had told anyone where they were going, or when they expected to be back. If anything went wrong, well….Scott was the older of the two. He’d be responsible, then, wouldn’t he?

Standing on the ledge, Perry could feel warm air coming up out of the shaft. That was odd. Usually, caves stayed a constant temperature, often cooler than the warm New England autumn the surface was enjoying. Turning to peer down the passage, Perry could see that it was rather smooth…almost as though it were manmade. Impossible, of course. He and Scott had been forced to dig past a large quantity of rock to get into this new region of the cave (something else the Club’s sponsors wouldn’t be keen on learning).

Of course, it could be volcanic. That would explain the smoothness of the sides. But who had ever heard of a volcano in New Hampshire?

Scott was almost down the shaft. Perry stepped into the passageway, just a little, using his helmet lamp to light the area. It was smooth, and it went in a long way. Perry could see that there were side passages, as smooth as the main one. The whole area seemed far too regular to be natural. Yet, the idea that it was anything else was…fantastic.

Then Perry saw the colour, glinting down at the edge of his light. He couldn’t identify it. It was something like red, something like gold…but it was neither. Perry understood something about optics, something about spectrums. How could there be a colour you couldn’t identify? A cold spike of fear ran up his spine. For the first time in a very long time, he felt that primal fear of being underground, of the unknown. It almost seemed to come from outside him.

And then he stepped toward the colour. He didn’t want to…he tried not to…but he took another step. “Scott!” he shouted. “Scott! Stay back! It’s got me, Scott!” He couldn’t say what had him, what was controlling him. He moved down the corridor. He could hear Scott, still on the rappelling line, call something back down to him. He couldn’t tell what. Because now a door was sliding quietly open in front of him, a door that had looked like part of the wall. A wave of tropical heat swept out over him. A wave of that unknown colour swept over him. The next thing that came had sharp teeth and terrible hooked claws.

[CUE THEME MUSIC]

 

[Raven Crowking]

The Sage and Wesley were in the TARDIS, time rotor moving slowly. They had recently been to places -- a mesozoic landscape, the Pleasure Domes of Abydos, the Silver Devastation -- where a combination of knowledge and action had been required for survival. Wesley was very much a man of action, having lived on the American Western Frontier, while the Sage was a man of learning.

They were arguing about the relative merits of each when the TARDIS picked up a distress beacon.....

EDIT: Remember, dialogue is important in the Doctor Who universe, and in The Game of Rassilon, entertaining dialogue is a good way to earn an extra Action Point.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"C'mon now. I'll grant you that book learnin'..." he notes the Sage's arched eyebrow. "...learning is important but all that theory means nothin'... nothing when the bullets is flying and your life is on the line." He takes his stetson off and gestures expansively with it. "Practical application of knowledge, of every-day knowledge is what saves you."

"All those books on the shelves of the TARDIS's reference library aren't worth squat if you ducked when you should have weaved." he replaces his stetson, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Where are we this time, by the way?" Wesley glances at the exterior viewer and with a smile in his eye, adds "Is this REALLY where you wanted to go this time? Ballatorix-4 was nice and all but abandoned industrial fabrication planets weren't what I was thinking of when you said we'd see the wonders of the 18th age of the Argivian Kingship."

 

[Raven Crowking]

(The Sage may note that, insofar as he is aware, his TARDIS is working perfectly. He is going exactly where he wants to go....and he can make up the reasons therefore himself!

When he checks the instruments, the distress beacon seems to be coming from early 21st Century Earth, but the signal itself seems to be using an ancient code, seemingly over 200 million years old.....)

EDITS:

1st player post, whoo hoo!!!

Nice one, too.

Let's be generous and call that sufficiently entertaining, as well as celebratory of the first post of the first playtest of a new game, and grant the good Wesley 1 Action Point. Remember, if you think someone has done something that makes the game fun for all, feel free to say something!

 

[deamonprince]

And So It Begins...

"I cannot fault your argument Wesley, for it is all too true in many a circumstance. But the books on the shelves of my TARDIS speak of conflicts of all kinds, fought with tooth and claw, gun and knife, knowledge gathered from a million worlds."

"Many of these so-called "Wars" are waged over objects, resources and ideas that have existed for all time - yet without the appropriate information, the species involved in these conflicts rain death and destruction upon each other, often for so long that the parties involved forget why the battles began" Ess said, confidently.

"Just remember Wesley - while you have, without doubt, skill at arms, you must remember that skill can be replicated, whereas knowledge must be earnt. Though I must admit, too much knowledge is rarely a good thing, especially in the hands of some..." Wesley focuses intently on the last part of the sentence, hoping to be enraptured by tales of epic action, but The Sage stops abruptly.

"Ah yes, as you were saying, we must find out where we are. Now, let me see... Hmmm, what do we have here..." The Sage says as he moves swiftly to the main console.

[sblock]I will be colour-coding my posts - Red for The Sages dialogue, Black for my narrator-type parts, and Blue for Game Mechanics. See next post for my actions.[/sblock]

 

[Raven Crowking]

[sblock]Before I leave my TARDIS I will be enabling it's various defensive systems, like the HADS etc (Click for List of Systems) I assume that I will need to make a TARDIS systems check, so what will the DC's for each system be?[/sblock]
I've had some computer troubles over the past 36 hours, but now it should be fixed. I'm reserving this space for later today - I'll be deleting some of this explanation and replacing it with roleplaying stuff.

The Sage and Wesley were in the TARDIS, time rotor moving slowly. They had recently been to places -- a mesozoic landscape, the Pleasure Domes of Abydos, the Silver Devastation -- where a combination of knowledge and action had been required for survival. Wesley was very much a man of action, having lived on the American Western Frontier, while the Sage was a man of learning.

They were arguing about the relative merits of each when the TARDIS picked up a distress beacon.....

Sorry to hear about your computer problems.

I'm thinking you'd first like to land the TARDIS. I am assuming, therefore, that you follow the distress beacon? Jumping over into the Game of Rassilon (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=199342), I see that setting basic coordinates is a DC 15 Astrogation check. If you follow the distress beacon, that gives you a +4 bonus, meaning that the check requires a roll of 11 or less. The Sage should be able to Take 10 and arrive in the general vicinity of the distress beacon, if that is what you want to do.

Therefore, checking the ship's meters, you can see that you have indeed landed on Earth, in the Autumn of 2007. Radiation and atmosphere are normal. You set the ship's Drift Control to prevent it from moving, and the HADS before exiting the TARDIS. Setting HADS is a DC 5 check, so that nearly anyone with the TARDIS Systems skill can do it automatically. If you are using the Removable Lock option, please tell me. Otherwise, I assume that you intend on locking the TARDIS, and the controls are currently isomorphic (with the exception, probably, of the door control, which I assume you have available to Wesley).

You might wish to intersperse your RP comments with Wesley's, so as to create a dialogue. Or we can skip that as you wish (though you miss the chance at gaining the all-important Action Point by so doing).

 

[deamonprince]

The Sage's Actions.

I use the TARDIS' systems to lock onto the Distress Beacon (taking advantage of the +4 bonus) and as it is a trained skill for me, I decide to roll for it, and I get 24 (including bonuses, CHECK HERE). I then proceed to land the TARDIS.

"Well well, it seems we are in the Autumn of 2007, on you home planet, Earth." Wesley's smiles, "But where are we?"
"We to seem to be somewhere in New England. The TARDIS says the air is breathable, and Radiation levels are nothing out of the ordinary, so we're free to explore if you'd like." Offered The Sage.

Lobo, please feel free to say and do whatever you want to before we leave the TARDIS.
Before we leave, I set the Drift Control, HADS (assuming auto-suceed), the controls are Isomorphic (The Sage, Door Control for Wesley) and I decide to Lock the Door and Remove the Lock, taking it with me in one of the Transcendant pockets of the coat I am wearing.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"Well then, don't mind if I do." Wesley mock-bows to the Sage, saunters over to the door and pauses, looking out the window, before opening the TARDIS doors. "You haven't changed the locks again have you? I'd hate to get beat up by a bunch of pygmies again 'cause you forgot to give me the new key." He rubs his left knee in memory of that fight.

Upon confirmation he yanks open the door and says, "Hello New England! Yeah, I've missed that Earthly air; Ain't nothing like home." before stepping out. He immediately steps back inside and asks, "Now, is this really England or the part of the US of A called England?" Wesley awaits the long-suffering Sage at the door.

 

[deamonprince]

Here We Go!

"Ah, I'm glad to see you're on the ball today, Wesley. Seeing as we are on early 21st Century Earth, I can say with some certainty that were are in the United States of America." The Sage answers, moving towards the TARDIS door.

"Though I'd take a deep breath if I were you." The Sage says, apprehensively. "And why would I want to do that?" Wesley smiles. "I'd like to take the credit and say that we have landed here to sample the fresh autumn air of 2007, but sadly that is not the case. While travelling through The Vortex, The TARDIS locked onto a Distress Beacon of some sort, and decided in it's infinite curiosity, that we should take a look." Ess smiles to himself... "So I graciously decided to help her out, and plotted a course that has put us as close to the Signal's source as possible."
"Ah, I see, but why should I take a deep breath then?" Enquires Wesley. "Oh yes, um..." The Sage hesitates "Because the Beacon's signal seems to be coming from underground..."

I now leave the TARDIS, having activated the security measures I mentioned in my last post, and make a DC 8 "Take in the Fresh Air" check.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"Underground?!" Wesley is floored. "We spent near on 4 days cooped up inside the TARDIS and the first thing we gotta do look for a way ta get outta the sun? You see, that's book-learning for you... no appreciation for the outside world."

He gestures to some nearby trees while looking around and taking in the environment, wondering off-hand what form the TARDIS has taken this time before continuing. "Take these trees for instance. Really, you don't need to know what species they are, how long they live and how long they take to germinate... a tree is a tree. Betcha never thought of climbing it did ya?" Wesley laughs.

"So, underground. Right... well, I suppose we should start by looking for some caves."

____________
OC: Wesley starts looking around, noting his environment. Taking 20 to get a feel for this new location while he chats with the Sage.