Sandy Prelude

M] Theo: @Sandy

[10:48 PM] Sandy: ((Hi))

[10:49 PM] Theo: ((I could make the channel private, or whatever if you wanted. Whatever works best for everyone.))

[10:50 PM] Sandy: ((We can go private, yeah.))

[10:50 PM] Sandy: ((But it's not exactly a primary concern for me.))

[10:51 PM] Theo: ((Well, I don't know how to do that, so.))

[10:51 PM] Sandy: ((Let's just carry on and not worry about it. KARI, don't read this! ))

[10:53 PM] Sandy: ((How do you want to do this?))

[10:53 PM] Theo: All right. It is November 3rd, 1935, in Boston. This means it's winter in Boston, and it's wicked cold.

[10:54 PM] Theo: We're just gonna do some establishing stuff first.

[10:54 PM] Theo: For the record, just so you know, effectively right now, Sarah is as she was before you spent your Transformation points.

[10:55 PM] Theo: So no knacks yet, none of the stuff that your Inspiration kicked up.

[10:55 PM] Sandy: ((Understood))

[10:55 PM] Theo: Where does she work?

[10:55 PM] Sandy: ((It's Sandra, though))

[10:56 PM] Sandy: ((This is still after I left?))

[10:56 PM] Theo: ((After you left what?))

[10:56 PM] Sandy: ((Her mentor's house and job? Set out on my own?))

[10:57 PM] Theo: Yes.

[10:57 PM] Theo: You're on your own.

[10:57 PM] Sandy: works as a waitress at a dingy bar or diner somewhere. Wherever's easiest for you.

[10:57 PM] Theo: It's wherever you want, as long as it's in Boston.

[10:58 PM] Sandy: is a waitress at a dingy diner.

[10:59 PM] Theo: (You're a Daredevil, right?  That should be under 'Inspiration' at the top with the name and other info.)

[10:59 PM] Sandy: ((Ok, what's the 5 mean?))

[11:00 PM] Theo: ((I dunno, you put it there. :p.... oh, you wrote your inspiration stat there.))

[11:00 PM] Theo: ((Oh, wait, no, I guess the character sheet does that for some reason. Weird.))

[11:00 PM] Sandy: ((Oh! Probably a mistake, sorry.))

[11:04 PM] Theo: Okay, anyway, yes, you're on your own. You make enough between wages and tips to pay for a small apartment, and what's left over pays for trips to the junkyard, and contributes to the rent of a small garage you share with your friend, a mechanic named August. He's only a little older than you, used to be a bootlegger, you've picked up a few things from him. (This is your Ally, if you're good with that.))

[11:04 PM] Sandy: ((I am! Cool! Thanks!))

[11:05 PM] Theo: So you were raised by your Mentor, I think is what you were going for?

[11:06 PM] Sandy: Yes.

[11:06 PM] Sandy: If you're ok with it, I was gonna name him Alan Swan. The supposedly most brilliant man this side of Howard Hughes.

[11:10 PM] Theo: Okay. so, Alan Swan was old when he took you in, having never had kids of his own. Half-mad, too, he told you a lot of stories which were clearly hogwash, even if they were entertaining.

[11:11 PM] Theo: But he was pretty rich, brilliant, and willing to teach you pretty much anything you wanted to learn.

[11:11 PM] Sandy: ((Ok, so we're at feet in tissue boxes Howard Hughes, I can dig it. ))

[11:14 PM] Sandy: At some point, though, Sandy realized there wasn't a future there not in his shadow and wanted to be recognized for her own merits.

[11:14 PM] Theo: ((Not that kind of mad. No crippling OCD, mostly just eccentricity.

[11:17 PM] Sandy: ((Ok))

[11:18 PM] Theo: So, work, then working on her bike, is, I assume how her life generally goes.

[11:19 PM] Sandy: Basically.

[11:19 PM] Sandy: Job keeps her living, working on improving the bike keeps her alive.

[11:19 PM] Sandy: Occasionally she gives an especially bad customer a firm exit.

[11:21 PM] Theo: So some nights you and August go out to an airfield and race, your bike against his hot rod that he's had for years and been sooping up since his bootlegger days.

[11:21 PM] Sandy: ((Hence the boost in brawl))

[11:22 PM] Sandy: ((That works for me.))

[11:22 PM] Sandy: "Think I solved that small issue with the brakes."(edited)

[11:22 PM] Sandy: "They shouldn't go flying off this time."

[11:23 PM] Theo: It's getting tricky to keep doing racing, with all the recent snow, the strip is effectively getting smaller and smaller.

[11:23 PM] Theo: August:  That's what you said last time.

[11:24 PM] Sandy: "Well, good news is, if they do, snow'll cushion my fall."

[11:24 PM] Sandy: "And I now have the advantage.  Smaller frame on my bike than your...we still calling that antique a car?"

[11:25 PM] Theo: August:  You sure do talk a lot.

[11:26 PM] Theo: And cars wish they were as good as Mirabelle here.

[11:27 PM] Theo: August is, fyi, a pretty good looking guy with dusky skin, long dark hair, and with a slight french accent that is a result of growing up speaking a few languages.

[11:27 PM] Sandy: "It's no fun if you don't trash talk back."

[11:27 PM] Theo: That's why I don't.

[11:28 PM] Sandy: "Ok then.  Let's let the engines do the talking."

[11:28 PM] Theo: August:  finally.

[11:29 PM] Theo: So, let's do a drive roll here. Roll Drive+Wits. You can use your own dice.

[11:29 PM] Theo: So roll five dice, and every die above 7 is a success.

[11:30 PM] Sandy: ((Isn't it 8 if it's Drive + Wits?))

[11:31 PM] Theo: ((Yep! Looked at the wrong character sheet.))

[11:31 PM] Sandy: ((Ah, ok.))

[11:32 PM] Theo: So, seven success, that's a really good roll.

[11:32 PM] Sandy: ((7 success and one was a full ten if that means anything.))

[11:34 PM] Sandy: ((  ))

[11:34 PM] Theo: Normally 1 success would be enough, though given the snow and ice, in this case, I would say you needed 3. But as you were competing, this is a contested roll, so I'll roll for August.

[11:36 PM] Theo: He got 5 success, so you win, peeling ahead as the track becomes narrow and he just can't get enough room to overtake.

[11:37 PM] Theo: So you leave him in the dust before long. You cast a glance behind you, and then look ahead, and there's someone directly in your headlights. Give me another drive roll.

[11:38 PM] Sandy: ((Less good. 4 successes))

[11:38 PM] Sandy: ((one of which is a 1))

[11:38 PM] Theo: Still enough. Do you want to stop, or swerve around?

[11:38 PM] Sandy: ((Swerve))

[11:39 PM] Theo: 1s only count if you roll no successes.

[11:40 PM] Theo: But okay, you swerve around him just in time, kicking up a lot of snow and slush behind you. Something that occurs to you, and it has a few times, is that your bike seems to be missing... something. You're not sure what it is, but it's one of the reasons it never feels finished. And it's not perfectionism, you just feel like there's something that isn't there that should be.

[11:41 PM] Sandy: will swerve to a stop and look for the dude in her headlights.

[11:43 PM] Theo: He is gone.

[11:44 PM] Theo: So now, I want you to give me a willpower roll. Did you boost it with Transformation points?

[11:45 PM] Sandy: ((I did...how's this work?))

[11:45 PM] Sandy: ((I have 8 dots of willpower))

[11:46 PM] Theo: ((Yeah, but before that, did you put any of the freebie points into it before you transformed?))

[11:46 PM] Sandy: ((Oh, yeah. One, I think.))

[11:46 PM] Theo: So you have a 4. Roll 4 dice.

[11:47 PM] Sandy: ((...ok, I think something's screwy with the roller))

[11:47 PM] Theo: Seems to be.

[11:47 PM] Sandy: ((That's showing me six dice even though I rolled four.))

[11:47 PM] Theo: Just roll 4d10?

[11:47 PM] Sandy: ((I'm gonna do it with my physical dice, if that's ok.))

[11:47 PM] Theo: That's fine.

[11:48 PM] Sandy: ((No successes and a 1...should not have done that. ))

[11:48 PM] Sandy: ((1,2,2,4))

[11:48 PM] Theo: Oh fun! Okay. So that's a botch. That means something interesting happens.

[11:50 PM] Theo: So you suddenly hear screaming. Not like, one person or a few people, or even people, it's like... everything is screaming. It's overwhelming, and you start to feel faint. You just kind of flop off your bike onto the snowy ground and look up at the sky.

[11:50 PM] Theo: The sky was overcast before, but now it's clear, and you look straight up, and see a world up there.

[11:51 PM] Theo: Like, there's a planet hanging in the sky.

[11:51 PM] Theo: Not the moon, this is a world with clouds and oceans and land visible under the clouds.

[11:52 PM] Sandy: ((Does it seem earthlike in style or land?))

[11:52 PM] Theo: Some how, you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is not Earth.

[11:53 PM] Theo: The screaming noise gets higher and higher pitched... you've seen 2001, right?

[11:53 PM] Theo: You know the sound when they find the monolith on the moon? It's kinda like that.

[11:54 PM] Sandy: ((Oh God, it's full of stars!))

[11:57 PM] Theo: The noise becomes higher pitched, and it reminds you of like... two heavy pieces of metal scraping against each other. Then there's a wrenching, and everything seems to just.... stop, and then things start going again. Like something was wrenched into place and now the machinery of the universe is is running again. You black out... it feels like it's only a moment, and when you look up again, the sky is as it was... grey and dark and overcast and starting to snow.

[11:58 PM] Theo: You realize, suddenly, abruptly, that you know how to make your bike 'whole', before blacking out again.

[11:58 PM] Sandy: is unconscious

November 26, 2020

[12:00 AM] Theo: You come to again in your apartment, covered in a blanket. You've still got your coat on and all, but you're warm, and someone is rattling around your tiny kitchenette.

[12:00 AM] Sandy: jolts upright. "Where is it?!?"

[12:02 AM] Theo: August puts a cup of coffee in front of you. "Your bike's in the garage."

[12:03 AM] Sandy: "...did you see it?  ...in the sky?"

[12:03 AM] Theo: August swears in french. "Hard to miss, wasn't it."

[12:04 AM] Sandy: "No fucking kidding."

[12:05 AM] Sandy: "...how did it get that close?  And the screaming.  ...I...I need to get there."

[12:06 AM] Sandy: "...and the bike...I've got work to do on it."

[12:07 AM] Theo: August: mon dieu Screaming planet and she wants to go there.

[12:09 AM] Sandy: "August, this is the greatest potential discovery of our lifetimes!"

[12:09 AM] Theo: He goes over to the radio and turns it in, flipping stations till he finds a news broadcast. "Nothing yet."

[12:10 AM] Sandy: "No one's reporting it?"

[12:11 AM] Theo: He keeps flipping. "Someone must have called something in."

[12:12 AM] Sandy: "...what if it chose us?"

[12:14 AM] Theo: "--repeat, many residents of Boston reporting strange meteorological phenomena at work in the night sky this evening.  Many panicked citizens are tying up switchboards in reporting this fantastical events.  Whether or not it was indication of some form of stellar event or simply some kind of mass hallucination remains to be scene.  We'll update you with more news as it comes in."

[12:14 AM] Theo: .....I hope it didn't, I don't want to be chosen for anything.

[12:14 AM] Theo: ((What does Sandy look like?))

[12:14 AM] Sandy: "Mass hallucination?  Bullshit!"

[12:16 AM] Sandy: has tan ethnically ambiguous skin (I'll decide that later), long black hair she ties in a ponytail to keep it out of her face, is pretty, but a somewhat robust looking woman.

[12:17 AM] Sandy: "...there was also a man."

[12:17 AM] Sandy: "Right before it happened I has to swerve to miss him."

[12:17 AM] Theo: A man?

[12:17 AM] Theo: August:  Who? Did you know him?

[12:18 AM] Sandy: "No, he was just some guy.  I was gonna yell at him about it, but I turned around and...poof, gone."

[12:18 AM] Sandy: "...August, something truly crazy's going on."

[12:21 AM] Theo: August nods as the news broadcast signs off and music fills the apartment. "No question."

[12:21 AM] Theo: August:  Got a bad feeling.

[12:22 AM] Sandy: "...I'm gonna put rockets on my bike."

[12:22 AM] Theo: August:  That'll fix it.

[12:23 AM] Theo: He reaches into his coat and draws out a gun, holding it out to you, grip first. "You hold onto this for the next little bit, yeah?  Just in case."

[12:23 AM] Sandy: takes it. "You think the planet's coming for us?"

[12:24 AM] Theo: August:  I don't know.

[12:24 AM] Theo: August:  But I feel like something is.

[12:24 AM] Sandy: nods and packs the gun in her jacket.

[12:25 AM] Sandy: ((We can end here if you like and you can move onto Kari.))

[12:27 AM] Theo: Yeah, okay. Essentially, though, she is now Inspired and has all her points and crap, finding her abilities enhanced over the next few days as experts debate what happened.

[12:27 AM] Sandy: ((Excellent! Thanks! I'm excited!))

Message #swan