281 replies to this topic

[fury]

This is for any questions, queries, or sharing of ooc theories and suggestions.....

[quizzical]

Here is Alyssa's story before she meets up with the others...

Life started well at the farm despite the epidemic, slowly most of the hands began to succum also despite the best efforts at isolation. In the end there remained a middle aged hand, one of the young girls who used to ride, Alyssa, her mother and younger brother. The hand never got the illness and did his best to keep most things running well, he checked the boundaries regularly with the help of Alyssas brother. When Alyssa's fever broke it left her weak, she had a week of recovery but her stamina was still very low. The hand entered the main house and said, "Sorry to interrupt ma'am but there are soldiers at the gate wanting to come in"

What is she going to do??

BTW names of survivors, brothers age would be helpful. Did mother and brother live there before epidemic?

Mother: Anne Ainsworthy, age 51, worked in a beauty salon after the kids were old enough to go to school. The shop closed after the epidemic started and is not likely to re-open any time soon. Alyssa moved her mother and brother to the farm after the epidemic broke. Anne's has kept people fed, clean and calm but is not a horse person.

Brother: Andy Ainsworthy, age 14. He was a pleasant surprise to Anne and Andrew Sr (who died a few years ago in a car crash). Typical teen ager. Initially distraught that the lack of electricity ended his video gaming, he's found that he likes the horses and has taken on some responsibilities as the pther people died off.

Farm hand: Daniel. age 32. Big man with a big beard but a child's mind. He has mild mental retardation or perhaps got kicked in the head as a child. He's a hard worker who does what he's asked and loves the animals. However he is quite shy (having been teased a lot as a child) and rarely voluntarily leaves his "comfort zone": the barn and the farm.

Alyssa checks her reflection to make sure she looks business like - taking a few pieces of straw out of her hair and washing the dirt off her hands. She asks her mother to make a pot of tea and her brother to check that all the buildings are locked - just in case. Then she and Dan go back to the gate in the most delapidated vehicle that still runs - an ancient VW bug. Alyssa's bow is on the floor, out of site, and her dagger is in her boot.

Alyssa's attitude will depend on what she sees there - if there is any doubt that the visitors are NOT military, she will be reserved and keep her distance until she is convince dthey are genuine. She's already chased off several people who thought they'd like to add fresh horse meat to their diets...

If the visitors are government representatives beyond any shadow of a doubt, she will approach and introduce herself to whomever seems in charge with a firm handshake. She will definitely hear them out with a friendly attitude - and with an eye to protecting the horses.


Roll me a spot check to see if Alyssa notices anything weird or unusual about these men.

[ January 4, 2008, 11:02 pm ] - quizzical rolled 1d20 ± 2 and obtained 17 ( 15 ). Reason : Alyssa spot.


Alyssa notices quite a few things about the men, the lack of discipline, the untidyness, one of the men has a bottle of whisky he is drinking from. She can also smell blood coming from the direction of the vehicles, and she sees a woman struggling with one of the soldiers behind one of the vehicles.



How many "soldiers"? How many and what type of vehicles? Are there any weapons visible?

Alyssa can see 6 men altogether, there are two 4x4 vehicles (darkcoloured) and a small truck with the covered back (like used for carrying soldiers in 2nd world war. As you can see cars are not my strong point)
3 of the men remain behind the wheel of the vehicles, the 4th seemed to have a pistol (the one with the woman), the one speaking has a pistol holstered at his side, the other is standing next to him has a rifle in his hands.



"Just go along with me or be quiet," whispers Alyssa to her companion. "No way those are legitimate soldiers! Drive up so I can speak from the car. Keep the motor running."

When they are close enough, Alyssa put her window down and gives the motley crew a disdainful stare."

"Where are the rest of you? Where's Captain Smyth?? We didn't expect you for another hour."

Alyssa is taking the biggest gamble of her life by bluffing...

[ January 6, 2008, 3:12 am ] - quizzical rolled 1d20 ± 3 and obtained 23 ( 20 ). Reason : bluff.
(OOC: Go ahead and check the die roller... I'd be suspicious if I were the GM...)

No I believe you lol!!!!


"Captain Smyth?" the man looks put out, "Sorry to bother you ma'am we've come to the wrong farm, I hope we haven't caused any inconvenience." He actually bows to Alyssa and waves to the drivers of the the vehicles, the larger ones start to move back the way they have come.



I was hoping to hear if we'd found any goodies or any signs of other intruders around the property... And to hear any suggestions from "Mom" about people in town...

I'd like to leave Mom and brother to defend the farm and have Alyssa and the stable hand ride to the neighbor's. Even better, I'd like to find some alive, well armed, and more than willing to lay down their lives to protect Alyssa's precious horses...

Once that is done (depending on the outcome and Mom's suggestions), Alyssa might head into town...

Also, I don't know anything about Leeds...

There is no signs of intruders on your property, when you check the neighbours several are dead of the virus. One of the farms has been looted, all the locked doors have been broken open and the place ransacked.

Alyssas mum suggests maybe trying to find a doctor or a pharmacist, also rat poison may be a useful find. With the excess of food the population would be growing out of control.
(Guns are actually very rare in England, only really found on criminals, police, army and the odd shotgun on a farm, Also water may be a useful resource in time to come). All mothers friends, that she was aware of were dead or very ill from the virus, so she cannot suggest anyone specific

Rats - YUCK. Good idea, Mum. While searching and inventorying we especially look for rat poison and leave "presents" to pre-emptively reduce the population near significant food sources

Well, we bury the dead that we find, invite survivors to band together, and... reluctantly... pillage what we can from abandoned houses without breaking in... yet. There may be other animals (food animals, dogs, cats all have their purposes) or useful tools.


Back at the farm, brother and mother are tasked with figuring out a way to capture and store rainwater.

Do we find any :
survivors who will join with us?
walkie-talkies?
Batteries?
generators?
Fuel supplies?
Dogs?
Food for humans or animals?
Shotguns or ammo?
Candles?
Seeds?

Machetes/really big knives?
Paint?

Once this is done, at first light the next morning Mom and Alyssa will head into town... searching for "a few good survivors" who might like farm life. they take the loaded Land Rover.



The only survivor you find in the outlying farms is old man Green, his sons had hired men to work his land as he suffered with emphysema and required constant oxygen. He comes to the door of the farm house dragging an oxygen cylinder behind him, with a shotgun in his hands.

As for the list, no walkie talkies (most now used mobiles)
Some batteries.
There was a generator attatched to the hatching shed in the chicken farm.
Each farm has a small tank of diesel? how much in
No dogs, several bodies were found. Mucus coming from noses and mouths? same disease.
The chicken farm has several cleavers, as well as a few axes. You find two shotguns with ten cartridges for each.
Plenty of seed for feeding the chickens and oats for feeding the horses.
Several boxes of tinned goods. Several boxes of candles.
(what type of paint?)

The chicken farm stank, there were dead birds everywhere. However Alyssa finds a batch of 12 chicks in the hatching shed, still cheeping and very much alive.


Great! We move back everything useful to our house. Brother gets to set up a stall for the chicks to continue growing in relative safety. We invite Old Man Green to live with us, oxygen and all. Does he know how to use that shotgun?

Once preparations are made, Mom and Alyssa study a map of Leeds and the surrounding area. Mom shows Alyssa where she might find pharmacy, doctor, etc. Then in the early mornings he sets out alone (decided to leave Mom at home), making sure that there is plenty of gas to get there, explore, and get back. Then off to the adventure!!

Yeah he knows how to use the shotgun. He only has two more full oxygen cylinders though! He is reluctant to leave his place but agrees eventually, especially when he realises he'll have someone to cook for him! The old man is 87 years old.

Edited by quizzical, 19 January 2008 - 01:41 PM.

[quizzical]

Greetings!
Sorry for going MIA - I've had a bad case of the flu. The highly potent cough syrup that is keeping my lungs where they belong is messing with my head. Feel free to NPC my character. It may be another week or so before I get back to posting regularly.

[Kashalla]

it may be the real contagion as i have the flu as well, not good when i start a new job on Monday...

However Fury, could you tell me what Road we are on in Leeds? as once we sort this out there could be some interesting ideas if I know where we are, BTW did you know there is a Nuclear Bunker in the middle of Leeds, I am asking my friend who is into that and knows the location. as it was part of the Civil Defence network and still exists today.
Also some interesting places we could visit in leeds,
The tunnel network under the city (Dark Arches)
The Armory where there is nearly one of every single weapon in existance
The Tank Factory just outside the city.
The Thackery - large medical library maybe there is someone there with a cure?
Whats happened to all the animals in the zoo.
What about the airport?
(better shut up now before i give Fury too many ideas)

[Early Bird]

You could be right there as I've got something as well. It's been dragging on for weeks with a nasty cough and just as I thought I was over it, it's back with a vengeance. Hope you didn't catch it off me at the weekend Kashalla.

Edited by Early Bird, 11 March 2008 - 11:50 AM.

[fury]

I am rubbish at road names but will certainly check it out for you. The road has the corn exchange (the large circular building mentioned) and is near the market. Possibly Bishopsgate but won't swear to it.

[Kashalla]

The bunker information is correct by the way, however, the one under the town hall is a single room and has been disused since 91,

The one at rothwell haigh is as follows
Site Name: Leeds - Regional CEGB Grid Control Centre at Rothwell Haigh
SE323276
Sharp Lane
Rothwell Haigh


Blast proof accommodation was provided for the electricity industry in the early 1950's. In 1950 it was felt necessary to provide dispersed national and regional control centres. The National Control Centre was in the Midlands with 8 regional control centres for the CEGB and the SGB (Scotland) at London (South East), Bristol (South West), Leeds (North East), Birmingham (West Midlands), Nottingham (East Midlands), Stockport (North West), Kirkintilloch (South Scotland), Pitlochry (North Scotland).

The Leeds regional control centre was built in 1953. It is located alongside the GPO/BT 'PR2' repeater station at Rothwell Haigh.

However this 3 story underground building is flooded on the ground floor and again is now not in use being decommissioned in 2001 when all the existing bunkers were decommisioned, as the Civil Defence corp was disbanded from its old form.

[Early Bird]

Just thought it might be worth mentioning here that Janet is still outside. Someone needs to prise her away from Don.

[Xaztam]

I'm assuming that 'The Farm' is Alyssa's farm. So should those of us on our way there start posting there or do we still need to finish making our escape? thanks.

[fury]

I left it incase anyone wished to make closing comments. Yes, it is Alyssa's farm, if you do post you are just on the approach.

[currymaniac]

Uh-oh....curry confused......
Which house are we in in the council estate thread?
I thought we were in the original house, but EB's post has now made me think we're in the other house......

[Early Bird]

That was the way I read it Curry. We were going back to the original house, but as Janet and Chris left the other one the business with Dolly kicked off and it all took place outside there. The way I saw it, Shelley was in the original house and Jericho had already gone back there. Corrections accepted if I got it hopelessly wrong but I did read through the previous posts to check and that's how it looked to me..

Edited by Early Bird, 19 April 2008 - 12:46 PM.

[currymaniac]

I took it the other way, but it doesn't matter to me either way.
So ok, we're in the second house then, that's all I needed to know.

[fury]

What about the poor pony, in the shed at the other house?????

[Synik]

Let's hope it's not slug bait!