Episode 2.02: Rivulets of Copper, Eyes Aflame

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Stress Results

Treyva - 2 damage vs. Resistance 2, 0 Stress lost

Tobin - 5 damage vs. Resistance 1, 4 Stress lost

Cole - 1 damage vs. Resistance 4, 0 Stress lost

Voshen - 2 damage vs. Resistance 0, 2 Stress lost

Chev - 1 damage vs. Resistance 2, 0 Stress lost

T'Kiri - 2 damage vs. Resistance 1, 1 Stress lost

Drake - 1 damage vs. Resistance 4, 0 Stress lost

Spunkmeyer - 2 damage vs. Resistance 2, 0 Stress lost

Current
Momentum 3
Threat 11

Bundled up as best as they can, the landing party departs the shuttle and double times it to the monastery gate. Voshen's outer cover is caught by the whipping wind and loosens briefly, the heat and dust blistering his skin as he gets it resecured. Meanwhile, Tobin, distracted momentarily by Voshen's wardrobe malfunction, trips on something unseen and ends up sprawled on the plaza, taking a face full of the hazardous environment. T'Kiri rushes over to help him up, briefly exposing herself to the heat to get the science officer righted.

Eventually, though, the landing party reaches the gate, which opens in seeming anticipation of their arrival. A heavily-covered monk yells, "Inside! Quickly!" He's barely intelligible in the maelstrom.

[socrates200X]

Reaching the safety of the monastery's gate, Voshen touched his stinging neck where the wind had blown the visor loose for a moment.  His palm came away with dots of purple blood.

"Sand.  I hate sand," he muttered low enough to be lost in the wind.

[Chev ch'Valk]

ch'Valk bounces up and down several times on the balls of his feet before lowering his head and dashing for the safety of the gate, one arm thrown across his mouth in defense against the storm. It's only when he reaches the gate that he realizes he had been attempting to hold his breath as he ran.

Moving quickly through the gate, the ensign turns to see if the rest of the team has made it.

[Nolmir]

Tobin hurries through the open gate and doubles over to catch his breath for a moment. Upon straightening up, he catches T'Kiri's eye and gives her a grateful nod.

"That's enough of Vulcan weather to last me for a good while," he says wryly as he gingerly touches the reddened skin of his face and neck.

[Renny]

Cole keeps an eye on the shrouded monk while the landing party gather themselves after the transit, having glanced around the rest of the team to make sure everyone is accounted for.

[Davy, aka GM]

With the gate closed behind them, the walls of the monastery complex minimize the effects of the simoom - the winds remain hot, but not blisteringly so, and their velocity is more manageable. The hooded monk directs them through a small door immediately opposite the gate, where he reveals open relief through a slight smile.

"It is agreeable to see new faces," he says pleasantly. "I am Nahwoor, the second-master here. What purpose drove you to brave the mazhiv-yon sahriv* to visit our refuge?"

* The Vulcan term for a simoom (literally: sandfire storm). - Ed.

[Patrick Goodman]

OOC: Is there a Vulcan term for a mental breakdown? A situation where cognitive dissonance has caused a person to break with reality and act contrary to their nature? Something that would be considerably more diplomatic than "We think one of your monks has become a delusional, homicidal psychopath?"

I will roll for that knowledge if necessary.

[Renny]

OOC: We're back!!

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Reason + Medicine (Psychology) vs. Difficulty 2 to get the Vulcan terminology. If you want the terminology in Federation standard, you can instead go for Difficulty 1.

[Patrick Goodman]

I'll take it how I can get it. Gonna shoot for D2 and the Vulcan term, but if I can only get the Fed Standard version, I'm not going to knock it.

Treyva Reason + Medicine (10/1) Task, TN 11, D2. Hopefully I can come up with a case to make my Observation Focus work, otherwise no applicable Focus.

Treyva considers Sorak a very close friend; with his father as a target, this is obviously personal. Could I invoke my "Family is Paramount" Value to access my Determination?

[Patrick Goodman]

OOC: While I wait on the judgment regarding the Determination spend, I might as well roll the dice and see what I've got to work with....

Rolled 2d20 : 14, 4, total 18

Please don't suck....

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: No to the Focus (this is a recall of specialized information), but yes to invoking the Value.

I'll also allow you to instead Succeed at Cost, the cost being the Complication "Distasteful," meaning the only word Treyva can remember is one that the monk would consider "undignified"; the landing party will have an increased Complication range of 18-20 in all tasks that involve Nahwoor.

[Patrick Goodman]

Nah, we're reaching the climax here, so doing something dramatic seems reasonable to me. Using 1 point of Determination for Perfect Opportunity. So noting in my character sheet.

Also rolling to see if my Veteran talent gets me that point of Determination back.

Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6

Noting this, too, whichever way it goes. See hat happens....

[Patrick Goodman]

He shoots, he scores!

The Perfect Opportunity spend gets me an additional die that's rolled an ace, so I count 3 Successes against difficulty 2. And I got my Determination back.

If I'm right, bank that Momentum; I have a sneaky feeling we're going to need it. Soon.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Acknowledging Treyva invoking "Family is Paramount" to spend 1 Determination for Perfect Opportunity. Also acknowledging successful restoration of Treyva's Determination through Veteran.

3 Successes vs. Difficulty 2. Success, plus 1 Momentum generated! Banking the Momentum point.

Current
Momentum 4
Threat 11

Back at the Academy, Treyva and a number of his fellow cadets were studying together for an advanced biology midterm. Two of his classmates in the course were in the medical track, and got off on a tangent debating why neurological disorders in Vulcans use only Vulcanian names, and not Federation Standard terms from the IME DSM*. (Of course, neither of the pre-meds were Vulcans...and, in fact, Treyva was the only non-human in that particular study group.)

One of the topics of the debate was a form dissonant psychopathy that Vulcans call mes-stirila kloshai-has, which the DSM lists as "Astan-tal's Disorder" (named for the Andorian neuropsychiatrist who identified it) for all other species. Treyva can't remember how the debate ended, or how the rest of the group was able to get them back to studying for the exam.

* Interspecies Medical Exchange Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Physical and Mental Diseases and Disorders, which is the Federation's primary reference authority for medical and psychological diagnoses. Yes, the IME still exists in the 23rd Century, and serves as the Federation's professional medical association. -Ed.