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He's a Chain-Smoking Detective. He's a Robot on the Lam. Together, They Fight Crime!
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<blockquote data-quote="Pell-Mell" data-source="post: 3656043" data-attributes="member: 50273"><p><strong>CASE FILE 001: THE CASE OF THE MISSING HOLYMAN</strong></p><p><em>Session 7, Part 1: Blood on the Asphalt!</em></p><p></p><p>Dirk leaned back in the driver's seat, his face to the sky and blew smoke into the thick summer air. In the gathering twilight, the neon of the Paragon Fuel[SUP]1[/SUP] sign sputtered to life high above and the first of the stars shimmered into view. His eyes slid to the side, finding his quarry: three townie girls loitering outside the fueling station, their skin pale under buzzing florescent lights. He locked eyes with the best looking of the bunch and nodded, the girl smiling and waving her friends to her side. They crowded in, giggling and casting furtive glances at the rogue in the convertible, and planned the next step in the endless dance. Events set in motion, Dirk took another drag on his cigarette, his thoughts wandering for a moment.</p><p></p><p>Life was good. It had been two days since they had left the ruins of the citadel and they had not run into any trouble on the road. The holy man they had been hired to find was in the trunk. As a bonus, whatever curse the Gulthias Tree had bestowed upon the paladin had rendered him more plant than human, his corpse giving little stink despite being several days old. Now sitting in the parking lot of a fueling station a day or so outside of Asheril, he was about to get his first hot meal in a long time, courtesy of the roadside grill that that had been grafted onto the side of the station. Looking back at the girls, Dirk decided that there was really no rush to get back to Asheril. Originally, he had wanted to return as quickly as possible, but now he was thinking they could at least spend the night in the crossroads town. The corpse in the trunk was certainly not going anywhere.</p><p></p><p>Dirk turned as the tinkle of bells announced the opening of the door to the diner. Case Nine, Mere, and Meepo made their way across the cracked and stained expanse of concrete, past the gleaming pumps, to the Orion '23. The priestess of Boccob tossed Dirk a hamburger wrapped in butcher paper and Meepo scampered up with a cold beer, its brown bottle devoid of any label. Mere gave the rogue a sour look, "I still don't see why we can't sit in the diner and eat like civilized people, rather than in the car like savages." Dirk smiled and took the beer, which he opened with a doodad on his key chain, "You know, I was just thinking the same thing." The rogue gave the kobold's head a friendly rub and took a swig of beer, "I was also thinking we could spend the night here, maybe find a motel or something. It is not like we are on the clock ..."</p><p></p><p>The rogue was interrupted by the rumble of engines. From around the corner came a Centaurus '10 and four motorcycles.[SUP]2[/SUP] The Centaurus was painted a flat murderous black, its hood emblazed with an elongated white skull with a long, lightening bolt split in the jaw bone. Both the truck and cycles were driven by gnolls and the bed of the Centaurus held two more that shouted war cries and shook rifles and axes. They roared into the station and pulled up to the fuel pumps, the diner suddenly dark and the girls already gone. Over the exhaust fumes was the almost palpable stench of unwashed fur and devilweed smoke.[SUP]3[/SUP] The gnolls cut their engines and jumped from the truck and cycles, some jamming nozzles from the pumps into their vehicles and other starting toward the diner, barking in Pell-Mell, "Food! Food! or Kill and Burn!"</p><p></p><p>Dirk muttered, "God-damn it. CrackJaws!"[SUP]4[/SUP] He watched the gnoll gang in the rearview mirror and said in a low voice, "Get in the car slowly. They look wound up, but if they were going to burn this place, they would have done it already. Don't look at them." The others did so, but as the rogue watched, the scene in the mirror changed. One of the gnolls lifted his head into the air, then another followed, and then several more.[SUP]5[/SUP] Their noses quivered and they began to bark excitedly in their tongue, but one word was in Pell-Mell: "Bertik". At the mention of her name, the priestess reflexively turned toward the gnolls. One caught sight of the movement and pointed a claw at the Orion. Dirk cursed and shouted, "Hold on!" He floored it and the car flew out into the street, sparks flying as the rear bumper slammed into the curb.[SUP]6[/SUP]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p>Dirk glanced up from the highway and into the rearview mirror, the headlights of the CrackJaws growing closer. "I am pretty sure I can outrun the truck. The cycles I don't know about." They were barreling down the road, the top of the Orion down and the air screaming around them. Beyond the road was the great plains, endless seas of grass whipping by. Case Nine and Mere had their rifles out and Meepo stared back at the glaring headlights, a killing spell at the ready. Dirk himself already had his pistol in one hand, the other clamped in a death grip on the steering wheel.</p><p></p><p>With a roar, two of the cycles cut forward. Case Nine was ready and took a shot, but not at the rider. Aiming for a vulnerable part of the engine, he severed a belt and the motorcycle went wobbling off the road, throwing the driver into the high grass.[SUP]7[/SUP] The other rider came roaring up on the driver's side, an axe in one hand. Screaming a war cry, he brought up his weapon to strike Mere, who was behind the driver's seat. Still driving, Dirk leaned back and brought his pistol around, jamming it into the mouth of the gnoll. The rogue shouted, "Not today furball!" and pulled the trigger. The addled brain of the gnoll had just enough to register his doom and then they were blown out the back of his skull. The cycle slammed into the side of the Orion and then tumbled back, forcing the remaining CrackJaws to swerve around it.</p><p></p><p>The truck barreled forward now, closing the distance between it and the Orion '23. The gnolls in the bed of the truck and the one in the passenger's seat shot wildly, but hit little. As it came closer, Meepo released his spell, twin eye beams lancing into the driver of the Centaurus. However, it was not enough to kill the driver, who brought the truck side by side with the Orion. The CrackJaws in the back of the truck grabbed their axes and attempted to jump into the car, but Dirk swerved away at the last second. They ploughed into the asphalt headfirst and splattered on the road, their axes sending sparks flying as they skittered and bounced.</p><p></p><p>Dirk pulled the car back close to the truck, as Case Nine had drawn his mace. Undisturbed by the howling wind, the robot leaned out the side of the Orion and began to batter down the driver's side door. In the meantime, Meepo once more lanced the driver with eye-bolts and this time the driver slumped over the wheel. The Centaurus veered wildly as the CrackJaw in the passenger's seat struggled to keep the truck on the road. While this was happening, the other two cyclists appeared unable to keep up with the battle and lagged behind. Mere shot one of these two, sending his bike out of control and one more gnoll slamming into the road.</p><p></p><p>The gnoll in the truck gained control of the vehicle, but seemed to lose the will to fight. The CrackJaw disengaged and roared off, Dirk letting him go and hit the breaks, the last of the motorcycles roaring past. Coming to a stop, Dirk turned to Mere, "What the hell was that about?" The cleric put up her hands, "I don't know! I don't know!" Meepo cowered in the corner and whimpered. The rogue bellowed, "They knew exactly who you were! What are you hidi ... " Case Nine cut him off, "We can ask one of them. I disabled the motorcycle of one of them and I saw him crash in the grass. I suggest we go find him before he runs off." Dirk gunned it, the tires squealing as he turned the car around and headed toward town.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p>The CrackJaw was indeed still alive, for when they went back, the gnoll took a shot at the Orion from far off the road. Having lost all patience, Dirk wheeled the car off the road and seemed hell-bent on running down the CrackJaw. The gnoll turned to flee, but tripped in the high grass. Case Nine immediately leapt from the vehicle and tackled the gnoll as he regained his footing. Dirk left the car running and Case Nine dragged the CrackJaw into the blinding headlights of the Orion.</p><p></p><p>Dirk got out of the car and pulled his pistol, leveling it at the gnoll's head. "Okay. So I was having a good day. And, I assure you, it was going to get better. But it has gone south pretty quick since you showed up. You speak Pell-Mell?" The gnoll squirmed and the rogue shoved the gun into his temple. The CrackJaw stared at Dirk, then nodded, "Yah. What ya want?" Dirk thumbed at Mere, "Why did you want with 'her?" The gnoll shrugged, "Old job. We look for her, but never find." Dirk glanced back at the priestess, then back to the CrackJaw, "What were you going to do with her if you found her?" The gnoll shrugged, "She worth money, but boss not tell us where we take her." Dirk asked, "Who wanted her found?" The CrackJaw shrugged, "You ask boss questions, he drives truck."</p><p></p><p>Dirk took the gun from the gnoll's temple, "Case put him down." The robot did and Dirk looked at the CrackJaw, "Get out of here. If I see you again, you're dead." Seeing no alternative, the gnoll fled into the darkness. In the background, Meepo quietly looted the disabled motorcycle, finding a few coins and the CrackJaw's stash of devilweed. The kobold handed over his findings to Dirk and the rogue put them in the glove compartment of the Orion. He then turned to Mere, about to say something. The cleric was ready, "I don't know how they got involved. My family would have been searching for me, but I know they would never have hired a gang. Maybe they caught wind of the situation and hoped to offer me up for ransom." Dirk rubbed his eyes, "We can talk about it later. Let's get out of here before more of them show up."</p><p></p><p>They pulled back onto the highway and burned into the night, the red of their tail-lights becoming pinpricks and then disappearing all together.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>[SUP]1[/SUP] Paragon Fuel is an alchemic fuel manufacturing and distribution company now based in Asheril. The founding members of the company fled from the Protectorate during the tumultuous "Consolidation" many years ago. Their corporate logo is a mighty titan bearing a massive boulder upon his back.</p><p>[SUP]2[/SUP] The Centaurus series is considered one of the most successful auto-cart designs of all time. Renown for its power, reliability and ease of maintenance, the series is well suited for a variety of tasks. The Centaurus '10 described here looks suspiciously like a <a href="http://www.seriouswheels.com/1940-1949/1948-Ford-Pickup.htm" target="_blank">1948 Ford Pickup</a>.</p><p>[SUP]3[/SUP] Devilweed is made from dried leaves of the wyssin plant. It is traditionally smoked to gain strength and courage, although users are typically nervous and paranoid. Devilweed products are illegal in Asheril, although widely used in some circles. The game mechanics for devilweed are described in the Book of Vile Darkness. Briefly, it provides a bonus to Strength, does Wisdom damage, and leaves the user Shaken.</p><p>[SUP]4[/SUP] The CrackJaws are a notorious gang of gnolls. They operate mainly in the mostly lawless areas in between the cities of Asheril and New Lud. They are a rather large group and routinely take part in highway robbery, hostage taking, and sometimes act as bounty hunters or hired thugs.</p><p>[SUP]5[/SUP] In the campaign setting, gnolls have <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#scent" target="_blank">scent</a>.</p><p>[SUP]6[/SUP] The Drive skill has been added to the campaign. This allows the user to drive most general-purpose motor vehicles, such as cars and trucks. It was taken almost whole cloth from <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd" target="_blank">d20 Modern</a>.</p><p>[SUP]7[/SUP] A creative use of the "Blooooooon-diiiiiiiie!" Swashbuckling Card.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pell-Mell, post: 3656043, member: 50273"] [B]CASE FILE 001: THE CASE OF THE MISSING HOLYMAN[/B] [I]Session 7, Part 1: Blood on the Asphalt![/I] Dirk leaned back in the driver's seat, his face to the sky and blew smoke into the thick summer air. In the gathering twilight, the neon of the Paragon Fuel[SUP]1[/SUP] sign sputtered to life high above and the first of the stars shimmered into view. His eyes slid to the side, finding his quarry: three townie girls loitering outside the fueling station, their skin pale under buzzing florescent lights. He locked eyes with the best looking of the bunch and nodded, the girl smiling and waving her friends to her side. They crowded in, giggling and casting furtive glances at the rogue in the convertible, and planned the next step in the endless dance. Events set in motion, Dirk took another drag on his cigarette, his thoughts wandering for a moment. Life was good. It had been two days since they had left the ruins of the citadel and they had not run into any trouble on the road. The holy man they had been hired to find was in the trunk. As a bonus, whatever curse the Gulthias Tree had bestowed upon the paladin had rendered him more plant than human, his corpse giving little stink despite being several days old. Now sitting in the parking lot of a fueling station a day or so outside of Asheril, he was about to get his first hot meal in a long time, courtesy of the roadside grill that that had been grafted onto the side of the station. Looking back at the girls, Dirk decided that there was really no rush to get back to Asheril. Originally, he had wanted to return as quickly as possible, but now he was thinking they could at least spend the night in the crossroads town. The corpse in the trunk was certainly not going anywhere. Dirk turned as the tinkle of bells announced the opening of the door to the diner. Case Nine, Mere, and Meepo made their way across the cracked and stained expanse of concrete, past the gleaming pumps, to the Orion '23. The priestess of Boccob tossed Dirk a hamburger wrapped in butcher paper and Meepo scampered up with a cold beer, its brown bottle devoid of any label. Mere gave the rogue a sour look, "I still don't see why we can't sit in the diner and eat like civilized people, rather than in the car like savages." Dirk smiled and took the beer, which he opened with a doodad on his key chain, "You know, I was just thinking the same thing." The rogue gave the kobold's head a friendly rub and took a swig of beer, "I was also thinking we could spend the night here, maybe find a motel or something. It is not like we are on the clock ..." The rogue was interrupted by the rumble of engines. From around the corner came a Centaurus '10 and four motorcycles.[SUP]2[/SUP] The Centaurus was painted a flat murderous black, its hood emblazed with an elongated white skull with a long, lightening bolt split in the jaw bone. Both the truck and cycles were driven by gnolls and the bed of the Centaurus held two more that shouted war cries and shook rifles and axes. They roared into the station and pulled up to the fuel pumps, the diner suddenly dark and the girls already gone. Over the exhaust fumes was the almost palpable stench of unwashed fur and devilweed smoke.[SUP]3[/SUP] The gnolls cut their engines and jumped from the truck and cycles, some jamming nozzles from the pumps into their vehicles and other starting toward the diner, barking in Pell-Mell, "Food! Food! or Kill and Burn!" Dirk muttered, "God-damn it. CrackJaws!"[SUP]4[/SUP] He watched the gnoll gang in the rearview mirror and said in a low voice, "Get in the car slowly. They look wound up, but if they were going to burn this place, they would have done it already. Don't look at them." The others did so, but as the rogue watched, the scene in the mirror changed. One of the gnolls lifted his head into the air, then another followed, and then several more.[SUP]5[/SUP] Their noses quivered and they began to bark excitedly in their tongue, but one word was in Pell-Mell: "Bertik". At the mention of her name, the priestess reflexively turned toward the gnolls. One caught sight of the movement and pointed a claw at the Orion. Dirk cursed and shouted, "Hold on!" He floored it and the car flew out into the street, sparks flying as the rear bumper slammed into the curb.[SUP]6[/SUP] [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] Dirk glanced up from the highway and into the rearview mirror, the headlights of the CrackJaws growing closer. "I am pretty sure I can outrun the truck. The cycles I don't know about." They were barreling down the road, the top of the Orion down and the air screaming around them. Beyond the road was the great plains, endless seas of grass whipping by. Case Nine and Mere had their rifles out and Meepo stared back at the glaring headlights, a killing spell at the ready. Dirk himself already had his pistol in one hand, the other clamped in a death grip on the steering wheel. With a roar, two of the cycles cut forward. Case Nine was ready and took a shot, but not at the rider. Aiming for a vulnerable part of the engine, he severed a belt and the motorcycle went wobbling off the road, throwing the driver into the high grass.[SUP]7[/SUP] The other rider came roaring up on the driver's side, an axe in one hand. Screaming a war cry, he brought up his weapon to strike Mere, who was behind the driver's seat. Still driving, Dirk leaned back and brought his pistol around, jamming it into the mouth of the gnoll. The rogue shouted, "Not today furball!" and pulled the trigger. The addled brain of the gnoll had just enough to register his doom and then they were blown out the back of his skull. The cycle slammed into the side of the Orion and then tumbled back, forcing the remaining CrackJaws to swerve around it. The truck barreled forward now, closing the distance between it and the Orion '23. The gnolls in the bed of the truck and the one in the passenger's seat shot wildly, but hit little. As it came closer, Meepo released his spell, twin eye beams lancing into the driver of the Centaurus. However, it was not enough to kill the driver, who brought the truck side by side with the Orion. The CrackJaws in the back of the truck grabbed their axes and attempted to jump into the car, but Dirk swerved away at the last second. They ploughed into the asphalt headfirst and splattered on the road, their axes sending sparks flying as they skittered and bounced. Dirk pulled the car back close to the truck, as Case Nine had drawn his mace. Undisturbed by the howling wind, the robot leaned out the side of the Orion and began to batter down the driver's side door. In the meantime, Meepo once more lanced the driver with eye-bolts and this time the driver slumped over the wheel. The Centaurus veered wildly as the CrackJaw in the passenger's seat struggled to keep the truck on the road. While this was happening, the other two cyclists appeared unable to keep up with the battle and lagged behind. Mere shot one of these two, sending his bike out of control and one more gnoll slamming into the road. The gnoll in the truck gained control of the vehicle, but seemed to lose the will to fight. The CrackJaw disengaged and roared off, Dirk letting him go and hit the breaks, the last of the motorcycles roaring past. Coming to a stop, Dirk turned to Mere, "What the hell was that about?" The cleric put up her hands, "I don't know! I don't know!" Meepo cowered in the corner and whimpered. The rogue bellowed, "They knew exactly who you were! What are you hidi ... " Case Nine cut him off, "We can ask one of them. I disabled the motorcycle of one of them and I saw him crash in the grass. I suggest we go find him before he runs off." Dirk gunned it, the tires squealing as he turned the car around and headed toward town. [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] The CrackJaw was indeed still alive, for when they went back, the gnoll took a shot at the Orion from far off the road. Having lost all patience, Dirk wheeled the car off the road and seemed hell-bent on running down the CrackJaw. The gnoll turned to flee, but tripped in the high grass. Case Nine immediately leapt from the vehicle and tackled the gnoll as he regained his footing. Dirk left the car running and Case Nine dragged the CrackJaw into the blinding headlights of the Orion. Dirk got out of the car and pulled his pistol, leveling it at the gnoll's head. "Okay. So I was having a good day. And, I assure you, it was going to get better. But it has gone south pretty quick since you showed up. You speak Pell-Mell?" The gnoll squirmed and the rogue shoved the gun into his temple. The CrackJaw stared at Dirk, then nodded, "Yah. What ya want?" Dirk thumbed at Mere, "Why did you want with 'her?" The gnoll shrugged, "Old job. We look for her, but never find." Dirk glanced back at the priestess, then back to the CrackJaw, "What were you going to do with her if you found her?" The gnoll shrugged, "She worth money, but boss not tell us where we take her." Dirk asked, "Who wanted her found?" The CrackJaw shrugged, "You ask boss questions, he drives truck." Dirk took the gun from the gnoll's temple, "Case put him down." The robot did and Dirk looked at the CrackJaw, "Get out of here. If I see you again, you're dead." Seeing no alternative, the gnoll fled into the darkness. In the background, Meepo quietly looted the disabled motorcycle, finding a few coins and the CrackJaw's stash of devilweed. The kobold handed over his findings to Dirk and the rogue put them in the glove compartment of the Orion. He then turned to Mere, about to say something. The cleric was ready, "I don't know how they got involved. My family would have been searching for me, but I know they would never have hired a gang. Maybe they caught wind of the situation and hoped to offer me up for ransom." Dirk rubbed his eyes, "We can talk about it later. Let's get out of here before more of them show up." They pulled back onto the highway and burned into the night, the red of their tail-lights becoming pinpricks and then disappearing all together. [B]Notes:[/B] [SUP]1[/SUP] Paragon Fuel is an alchemic fuel manufacturing and distribution company now based in Asheril. The founding members of the company fled from the Protectorate during the tumultuous "Consolidation" many years ago. Their corporate logo is a mighty titan bearing a massive boulder upon his back. [SUP]2[/SUP] The Centaurus series is considered one of the most successful auto-cart designs of all time. Renown for its power, reliability and ease of maintenance, the series is well suited for a variety of tasks. The Centaurus '10 described here looks suspiciously like a [URL="http://www.seriouswheels.com/1940-1949/1948-Ford-Pickup.htm"]1948 Ford Pickup[/URL]. [SUP]3[/SUP] Devilweed is made from dried leaves of the wyssin plant. It is traditionally smoked to gain strength and courage, although users are typically nervous and paranoid. Devilweed products are illegal in Asheril, although widely used in some circles. The game mechanics for devilweed are described in the Book of Vile Darkness. Briefly, it provides a bonus to Strength, does Wisdom damage, and leaves the user Shaken. [SUP]4[/SUP] The CrackJaws are a notorious gang of gnolls. They operate mainly in the mostly lawless areas in between the cities of Asheril and New Lud. They are a rather large group and routinely take part in highway robbery, hostage taking, and sometimes act as bounty hunters or hired thugs. [SUP]5[/SUP] In the campaign setting, gnolls have [URL="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#scent"]scent[/URL]. [SUP]6[/SUP] The Drive skill has been added to the campaign. This allows the user to drive most general-purpose motor vehicles, such as cars and trucks. It was taken almost whole cloth from [URL="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd"]d20 Modern[/URL]. [SUP]7[/SUP] A creative use of the "Blooooooon-diiiiiiiie!" Swashbuckling Card. [/QUOTE]
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