Shoe Thief

The Dead Don't Die.

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June Fowler

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Location: MRAP
Skills: N/A

Everyone had their jobs. More or less. Kinda of. Everyone found a way to keep themselves busy. Except June who was hiding out in the back of an armored truck to keep herself safe. Billie had gone to check a truck with progress, Lex went and... looted cars. She briefly wondered what the odds of the national guard coming through this street at this time and shooting everyone for looting were. Given a few minutes, and some public information, time on some forums to collect data and create a control based on regional and national movements so far she could probably get it within... 15%. Not exactly exact but she figured the chances of getting shot by the guard or the owners of said cars was higher than she liked. Not that she had access to said data. And not that she had the time to sort out said data. But, June was still in the truck. SO! A win. Always go for whatever wins she could.

June was an anxious mess at the moment, and did her best to hide how close she was to having a breakdown. Then Kali pushed by, rushing over to Flynn, and they began to talk. June didn't like it. A plan to start axing off more people? Why not ditch the girl who went with comfort foods instead of survival supplies? It's a fucking gas station! And she wasn't a survival expert! June had lived off worse with less and for long stretches herself! What was the big deal?! June wasn't hyperventilating yet. But she was stressed, overstimulated, and felt her life was in the line of fire. Wait, it was. The world was ending. These was a completely appropriate physical reaction to the level of stress she was under. Even if this was the worst time to have a freak out moment.

June missed the tail end of the conversation. But she saw the part that mattered the most. The guns. All three of them. And a collection of magazines. Just, there. Nothing containing them. Nothing to stop anyone from grabbing one. Or a couple. "Huh, would you look at that." June spoke, a dumb smile on her face like all of her problems just washed away. She grabbed one gun, leveled it at the wall of the truck, finger resting outside of the guard. She forgot how heavy handguns were. She had only handled one once in her life. And nearly blinded herself with her overconfidence in a rather cringe attempt to impress a woman who was probably twice her age at the time. She, was not interested. She had handled airsoft pistols. Cheap light replicas. But they were deceptively like the real thing. She remembered the instructors warning people about bringing real guns to the range due to how often people mixed them up.

She pointed the gun up, gave it a visual once over, spent a moment looking it over. After a moment, she found the safety, the release for the magazine, and checked the slider to make sure the gun was in fact loaded and chambered. A trained eye could spot she was unfamiliar with this weapon, but familiar with guns in general. An expert eye could tell she barely knew how to hold a handgun, and was compensating with her other knowledge in a desperate attempt to seem in control. To an untrained eye, June may come across as one of the more capable people with a gun in the truck. She then slide the belt within her belt. Sure, a holster would be better, but she didn't own one. She didn't even have a pistol permit in the state of New York. Or any state for that matter! But, there was more. Two more guns, three more magazines. How much did she trust the others. Even armed herself, how long until she was booted off the truck. Without saying a word, she grabbed the other pistols and slide them into her laptop satchel bag. Then tossed the spare magazines into the bag.

As Flynn called out asking for help with the officers, June looked up a rather empty expression on her face. "Y-yeah... I can help." The guns made her feel more confident, more powerful. Unbeatable. "Let's do this!" She exclaimed, a smile returning to her face with her confidence. Stepping up to Flynn and the officers to offer her assistance.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Study Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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One word was on Kathryn mind when she finished digging through the potential grave. Ew. She had issues already with touching dead people. Issues with looting the dead. This was... a necessary compromise. And by the gods was it something that she struggled to handle. Over the last few months she had gotten far better about p0hysical contact with other people. At least to a limited degree. But the gem seemed to be important. SO hopefully it was worth it. Hopefully... What concerned Kathryn was how fixated Lizbeth was on this rather strange rock. Though it glowed slightly, it really seemed to shine on Lizbeth the way she looked at it. Kathryn worried this may be tied into what Cecily had told her the night before. Was this a placebo effect? What Kathryn looking for things that were wrong that just were not there? She was revealed when she finally found somewhere to put it away. In an attempt to snap herself out of it, and to maybe get some sort of different reaction from Lizbeth, Kathryn spoke up. "I don't suppose by some chance you know anything about this? It's strange none the less." Kathryn said trying her best to hold a warm smile.

Lizbeth had taken a moment to explore more of the office, and after Kathryn had bagged up the gem she walked over to the glass cabinet the would be squire was exploring. "Find anything interesting?" Kathryn asked trying to lighten the mood before deciding to join in. Hoping to see if there was anything left worth noting before she decided to call it. She wanted to see what was hidden in the Coach house. She needed to see what was there. To her surprise, she did find something. Partially hidden underneath the cabinet. "Yippy Kai Aye. What have we got here?" Kathryn mused looking over what was easy to determine as a map of the area, with plans for expansion. But there was more. Wondering if maybe ol' grand dad knew something, Kathryn attempted to trace the map to see if the hidden brewery was there, and to her surprise, it was. So not as long and forgotten as once thought. Someone knew. "Hey Lizbeth, this seems to be a map of the area, can I get your help seeing if anything stands out as off? Out of place?" Kathryn asked, kneeling down so the two of them could see the map and look it over. But cartography wasn't a strong suit for the half giant. Not that she was bad at it, she could read a map as well as anybody, but she was still not an expert. Despite their efforts, they were unable to find much of note. "We'll show this to the others too. See what we can find. Then, we shall get things sorted."

"Let's get going. I want some answers, and I think it would do us both some good if we got them." Kathryn said confidently before striding off to leave the estate house. Before they got too far Kathryn spoke up again. "We're getting into a lot of things Lizbeth, if at any point you feel we are overstepping, or you need me to back off, speak up. This is your home and memories we're digging through, and I hold a lot of respect for you. Though I want to figure out what is going on, I want to minimize any harm or pain along the way should it come to ends." Kathryn said before they got outside. Then, Kathryn was reminded of the rather deep snow again. Ah, just like home. Enough snow that tunnels would have to be dug between buildings. Some towns and larger castles would have underground tunnels that made winter travel easier, and doubled as storage during parts of the year. Good times. "If we want to make good time, I may have to carry you again." Kathryn said. And getting no resistance, she lifted her squire onto her shoulders and strutted through the snow doing her best to not trip herself. A task not too hard when one was over 7 foot tall in full kit with boots, helm, and everything else. 4 feet of snow? Trivial.

Passing the stables, Kathryn saw BB just leaving, seeming prepared to move on to his next task. "Ah, perfect. We could use more hands." To make Lizbeth feel less embarrassed about having to be carried through the deep snow, and because it was a bit funny, Kathryn lifted BB up and hoisted him under her arm as if he were some sort of spare bag to be set aside once she reached her destination. "Got a lot to share, but we gotta get inside first." At the comment of pretending to weigh anything, Kathryn simply chuckled, gave BB a good toss up to make it easier to carry him and then gave the fakest complaining a woman could muster. "Oh, Blackberry, you're so heavy. I don't think I can go on, I may be forced to leave you behind! Please oh please forgive me." She uttered in her best damsel in distress tone. Before picking up the pace, returning to the coach house, and dropping BB on his feet as easy as if she was setting up a folding chair. "Now off to bacon storage."

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Study Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn listened, doing her best to hide her worry about the small girl who she had grown to adore these last few months. She wished she knew what to say to make her feel better. She wished she knew how to help her. "Okay. I figured I would ask. You're a rather smart lass ya know?" Kathryn took a moment to think of what to say to reassure Lizbeth before speaking up again. "There are experts on these sort of things, so how about first chance we get we go see some? In the mean time, if you need to step back at any point, know I wont be offended. Sometimes we have to look out for our own well being if we want to succeed." Kathryn tried to reassure the small girl. "Plus I think we about have the kobold out the sack here. Then, we can work on our training, find our fancy experts, and enjoy ourselves. Games, stories, you can tell me more about that tinker boy you told me about, and I can share with you about the time I embarrassed myself in front of my teenage crush." Kathryn offered wrapping it up with a soft joke to ease the situation some. Sure, Kathryn didn't have all the answers. But, she was going to do what she could for Lizbeth. Even if just knowing she had support.

Kathryn did take note that the lid was rather heavy. Well, it took effort for sure. Compared to the wine barrels Kathryn had been carrying it wasn't all too bad. Plus she didn't have to carry this either. A simple shove and she was all set! The loud thud was not something she was too proud of. She was less thrilled to see what was inside. Dirt. So much dirt. Not something Kathryn normally would mind, but she remembered Victoria mentioning something about graveyard dirt last time she was in here. So not only was she defiling a potential grave, it was probably someone else's grave at one point too. Inspecting the dirt herself, all she could say for sure is that it was rather chunky dirt. A noticeable amount of rocks, heavy dirt clumps, and things that may or may not have been bone bits.

First, she attempted to just see what she could see without having to touch the dead people dirt. Sure, she was fine fighting and killing her foes. She however, still held an aversion to touching dead people and their places. It was, a lot for Kathryn. If she wanted to find anything else, she would have to... get into the thick of it. Deciding she didn't actually wanna touch it, and convinced something may still jump out, she took her hand axe and began to use it somewhat like a shovel, attempting to shift the dirt to see what she could see without disturbing things too much. The soil was surprisingly delicate. Like freshly tilled farm soil she had seen off the side of roads while traveling. Something had been in here recently. She was pretty sure. She had no idea how long it took dirt to resettle... "hey Lizbeth, you know a bit about agriculture right? How long does soil stay loosened up after its been disturbed?" Maybe Lizbeth knew, maybe Kathryn could guess, but something had fucked with this dirt before Kathryn did. She however, couldn't tell anything else. So she had to go deeper.

Taking her axe and shoveling up dirt to make a hole to see how deep it went, and to see if a corpse may still be present inside, Kathryn dug down to see what she could see. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, ew, ew, ew, sorry." She said to no one or god in particular. But she was sure someone had to be offended by her actions. She felt insulted just by doing the actions. Then, she saw the glow. A black green crystal that seemed to draw her attention close. Beckoning to her. It wanted to be held, it wanted to be touched. To be possessed. Kathryn resisted the urge. No curses today please. However, it didn't react when Kathryn attempted to move it about with her axe. But now that she uncovered it, she couldn't just leave it could she? No. No she could not. With a deep sigh, she put the silvered axe back on her belt, and hoping the metal and leather would be enough, she grabbed the gem with her hand and pulled it out. A sharp gasp escaping her lips as she stepped back. Only to realize, nothing happened. On one hand, probably best. On the other, she did kind of hope for something to happen so she could react to it. "This looks important. We'll take it back with the note and Key, see if Victoria can use her magic to learn anything about it." Kathryn said confidently like she was the expert in the room, who knew 100% what she was doing. Taking a brief walk around the study too find something secure enough to hold the gem, Kathryn sealed it tight, and sealed it again in a pouch on her belts. "Unless you see something else of note here, I think we should check out the coach house, see about your grandfather's study there." Kathryn said proud of the work she had stumbled into. Only to turn and see the mess she made. It was leagues worse than she thought. "I'll uh... I'll take care of that as soon as I can, don't ask the staff to work on it." Kathryn said a bit ashamed of the mess.

The Dead Don't Die.

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June Fowler

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Location: MRAP
Skills: N/A

June knew she was smarter than most people. Her problem? She had the social skills of a wet noodle who knew she was smarter than most people. And she rarely knew the best ways to apply her intelligence. She was more of a give me a task and I will figure it out sort of person. But if no task was presented it was more of what were her own specific short term goals. In this case, Flynn was the one executing the idea of telling he cops to hand over their guns and restraining. June sat out of sight of the officers as Flynn attempted to take control of the situation. But felt the need to share about the guns again. "And the guns. Don't forget the guns." June said. She worried those accused of being sick may get hostile. But also, what if they needed them while the officers were quarantined? What if They never got better?

When Billie snuck her way out while trying to not be noticed it seemed, June noticed, and debated going with her. Since they may be staying for a hot minute, June didn't like the idea of being trapped. Maybe if she had the keys, or maybe if she was armed. But it was a small metal box where she had no control over her environment. Something she wasn't at all a huge fan about. In the end, she waited out of sight, waiting to see how things would play out. On top of that, it seemed Billie was able to even find keys! So they could get the other truck moving. In a rather excited manner, June leaned out the back door trying to not accidentally shove Flynn too hard and asked out to Billie "Find anything to eat in there? Chocolate? Soda? Booze?" Look, everyone needed their comfort snacks. Today was absolutely a comfort snack sort of day. And as the woman with pockets filled with gummy worms, she should know a thing or two about that.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Study Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn wasn't totally sure what to expect when she opened the box. Apart of her worried something creepy and evil would pop out and try to attach itself to her face. Maybe infect her with some sort of evil parasite creature. However, and thankfully, that did not happen. What did surprise Kathryn was that the box was attached to the floor, making it impossible to move. She wondered if the box was in fact a cover for a secrete ladder into an even deeper basement? If so, would it be smart to go down without proper backup? Sure Lizbeth was here but if things went really bad, then the most Lizbeth could reliably do for Kathryn was provide an extra swing against a foe or rush to find help. The fact of the matter was if there was something that Kathryn couldn't handle, Lizbeth would be in way over her head. Or if Kathryn got hurt, she was simply too big for Lizbeth to carry. Probably too big to drag, especially in full kit. But even if there was no secrete sub basement, those facts were true in any problem that may arise.

When the box opened with surprising ease, Kathryn was pleasantly surprised that there was in fact, nothing forcefully attach to her face, and also no ladder to a creepy sub basement. Instead it was... sacks? The box, had also been sorted with enough gold to run the vineyard for... a long time by Kathryn's guess. It was the funds to run a small kingdom. To build and maintain connections, hire workers or soldiers, build infrastructure, and live a life a comfort otherwise unknown to those without casual spending gold. "Holy mother of Selune." Kathryn mumbled. The temptation to pocket the funds was strong. Stronger than she wanted to admit. Strong enough to make her feel shame for taking riches that weren't hers. In fact, they likely belonged to Lizbeth, the girl she had been training with the last few months. Shaking her head, she saw the note tied inside of the box. Cecily. That guilt returned, she wanted to see what was inside of the letter, she wanted to know. But it wasn't for her. But people were dead, and more were likely to follow. And though Kathryn would never admit it to Lizbeth, Cecily was also a suspect. She had a lot to lose if things didn't go her way. She let Kathryn perform her investigation, but didn't offer up the keys. And she made it a point to point out what had happened to Lizbeth in such a tense situation. She couldn't be sure on the older woman. And thought Lizbeth was likely involved, she was more likely a victim.

Standing up, note in hand, Kathryn let out a deep sigh before opening the note. Kathryn read the first leg of the letter before taking a moment to stop. This felt like a point of no return. They were finally going to get answers, but she was terrified what they could be. Then she looked over to Lizbeth, thought of what this poor girl had been through, and knew she had to get to the bottom of things. Sitting down in the desk chair with a loud thunk, Kathryn read the rest of the note, her expression getting more and more grim as she read. As he talked about these cursed lands, as he wrote about Lizbeth and her condition, as talked about his second study. Then, the words that made her stomach drop. Made her forget all thoughts of gold, made her do the briefest of gasps. Catching her breath, she let out a heavy exhale and finished the note, folding it up and putting it in the leather pocket partially hidden within her armor, only to realize that was her old set. Folding it again, she slide it into a pouch, and then pressed that pouch underneath her breastplate. "Lizbeth. What do you know of The Prince." She spoke, at one point the words almost catching in her mouth. "If you know nothing that is fine, but I need your honest answer if you do know anything." Kathryn spoke out before she took a moment to breath, listen to what Lizbeth had to say, and stood up.

"We need to head back to the coach house. I think we can get some answers there." Looking at Lizbeth, and remembering the note, her hesitation took hold again. "When you find the place, please remember me gently. I made mistakes and was desperate to fix them." That probably meant that whatever was in there was going to be unsettling at best, and downright evil at worst. "It may not be best for you to join me there. Not where I am looking at least. We may find out things about your grandfather that may hard to process, and I don't want to skew your memory of him with whatever we find." Kathryn said cautiously. "We don't have to decide now. Let's see what else we can sort out here yeah? I'd hate to spend the whole day walking back and forth as we figure things out. We've already had our workout today, and cardio for work is far less fun than cardio for fun." Kathryn joked trying to lighten the mood some.

Kathryn turned to look back at the box and sighed. Closing it, and locking it back up, sliding the key afterwards into the pouch under her breastplate. "It appears to be funds to help run this place, as well as a few other reserve funds. It belongs to you under care of Cecily. And I hate to do this, but I am going to hold onto the key for a moment. I want to talk with everyone else what we have found first before we risk that box being opened again and tampered with. After I talk to everyone, I will give you the key to do with what you see fit." She felt terrible commanding the situation like that. Especially with how tempted she was to pocket the gold. But the fact was this whole room was also evidence. "If you have an objection to that let me know, you're an adult, and the key is yours by right. But you're wise for your years. So never be afraid to tell me what you think." Kathryn had moments she acted childish for her age, but on the opposite side of that, Lizbeth had moments where she acted more like an adult than one would expect of someone her age.

To keep working on the investigation, Kathryn was the mammoth in the room. The sarcophagus. Apart of her wanted to ignore it, move on, pretend it was all not a problem. But her job was to find the problem and deal with it. Walking up to the massive coffin like structure, she feared what could be within it. She feared that is also had some sort of wicked creature with intentions to attach to her face. Attempting to inspect the outside, it told her nothing she could use. "Can you make sense of it?" Kathryn asked hoping she didn't look like a dumbass. Before deciding "Fuck it" and deciding to just open the fucker. Grabbing the edge with both hands, bending into a squat, she then began to lift the cover, shifting a fair bit of rocky soil as the lid began to move.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Tap room --> Court Yard --> Big House Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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"Thank gods you're okay." Kathryn breathed out in relief. Though there was a moment where she had thought she had killed her squire, the small girl had begun to breath again, and seemed to stabilize in an okay manner. "I'm so sorry about that, you caught me off guard for a moment there and I guess reflex took over. You're getting good, we're going to have to find a better balance between casual training and fight or flight reflex though." Kathryn joked with the small child she briefly used as a fill in foot ball. With training finished up for the day, Kathryn gathered up her assorted gear, and before leaving remembered that she had a meeting planned with the Mosswaters. That, may get delayed a bit. Not wanting to totally stand the couple up, Kathryn wrote a pleasant and hopefully polite note for the halflings, leaving it attached to the door to be easily found should the couple make it out today.

Hello Friends!

Apologies to be reaching out like this, but due to events that took place the previous night I am a bit indisposed with responsibilities that must be addressed as soon as possible. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope you can forgive this short noticed delay. If things go as planned I shall be up at the main house conducting my work. If you would still like to mingle and chat I would happily take a short break to accommodate you. Should you arrive and prefer to return home please feel free to do so without offense, my duties sprung up last minute in the middle of our plans so the fault is all my own. Should today not work, let's reach out and see when else we can arrange a time to meet.

As a followup, I must apologize for my demeanor the previous night, and I appreciate your ever pleasant moods to my shenanigans. I'm afraid I have a bit of a free spirit that likes to express herself from time to time, and she can be a bit tricky to reign in once she's out. I do hope I haven't made too much a fool of myself.

Pleasant days,
Lady Kathryn Pyke of Arcanaple

With the note left, Kathryn was on her way with Lizbeth to get to work! They were going to solve the case! Kathryn was going to help the bean! Then she was going to prove to her party that she was more than just a wall of muscle! It didn't take long before the deep snow began to be difficult. Kathryn was tall enough that though it was annoying, she was going to be okay. She did have to stifle a chuckle watching the determined Lizbeth tough through the snow. "Would you like a hand?" Kathryn asked amused. At first the small warrior in training refusing, determined to make a go herself. Admirable, but she was clearly struggle. A few more feet, and one minor slip face first into the snow, Kathryn asked again. "Come on, it'll be fun. Let me help." And with some relenting effort, Lizbeth agreed. So Kathryn picked her up with the ease that most people may lift a plate of bread, and set the bean on her shoulders. "Come on, CHARGE!!!" Kathryn cheered trying to bring some fun to the moment to make it feel more like a game. Kathryn though attempting to go fast, also almost slipped and fell. So was quickly forced to slow down with a soft chuckle. "Okay, maybe instead of charge, a brisk walk yeah?" The rest of the walk wasn't too much harder.

Kathryn gave her warm hello's to those about the place as she passed them, and helped Lizbeth off her shoulders once the snow was clear enough she could walk without major difficulties. Now, things got serious. For real this time! Kathryn briskly walked down into the basement of the big house, moving her way down deep into the tasting room, and towards the office door that Cecily said should be locked. Kathryn knew though, that was not the case. And thankfully it had not relocked. The office was... unsettling to say the least. The giant sarcophagus was the first thing that brought attention to Kathryn. Kathryn did take note of the various work stations, but what stood out was the desk with a locked box by it. Kneeling down, Kathryn took out her hammer, and gave the box an ever so slight tap, and figured if need be she could smash the box. However, that could destroy whatever is inside it. She wanted information, evidence. Things she could use! Taking out her short sword, she placed the tip, and figured she could snap the lid off if need be. But she would give it a minute. Maybe a key was nearby? So she decided to give the desk a once over.

Kathryn began pulling out and laying out an assortment of ledgers, business records, a ton of paper and ink, some rather nice looking wax seals and their respective signets, it reminded Kathryn of someone running a small kingdom. She was sure her father must have had some sort of office like this back home, and if she was to have gotten her keep she would have had a work space much like this herself. Then something stood out, a stiff drawer. With some gentle brute force, it opened. With a gentle feel about she found something of note. A brass key. "Wicked." Kathryn said looking over the key. Then holding it up so Lizbeth could see it she called out. "Look what I found! Think it goes to this thing?" Kathryn said pointing the key to the box. Leaning back over, and setting aside her short sword, Kathryn set the key into the lock, and tensed. It fit perfect. Given the events of the last 16 or so hours, now she was anxious on whatever could be inside. With one hand on the lid, the other on the key, she carefully opened the box, ready to slam it shut should the need arise. So, she opens the box, and prays to the gods nothing jumps out at her.

The Dead Don't Die.

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June Fowler

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Location: MRAP
Skills: N/A

June may be socially inept, and struggle with social confidence, but while everyone else argued what to do with the potentially infected cops, June shared her idea, and was told it was a good idea. This was literally the best case scenario for June. Even better! Since Flynn had accepted things and taken the time to plan out the micro details! That meant that June didn't have to present her details even more so! She wasn't on the spot anymore! What else could a woman ask for? All it required was breaking into a truck! Which... June wasn't sure if they could with the cops present. And she had no idea what kind of counter lock measures that trucks had. Even Billie seemed to be softening up! Which was good because she very much gave the impression of someone who seemed ready to lose it. Though the woman seemed friendly enough, she reminded June of someone who could be a bit of a hard ass. If everything wasn't to her degree of perfect she began to quickly get agitated. Then thinking on it, so did June. But in this case June's line of thinking was that of self preservation so she was totally justified in all she did. But the idea of waiting was concerning. They didn't even have time to swing by to pick up her car of all things! "I mean if we're gonna wait we could swing by and pick up my car?" She asked optimistically, knowing the chances were slim. But she figured why not? But things were getting worse, and worse. What if things got so bad they couldn't stay and didn't yet know one way or another?

But there was the problem that the cops outside had to be willing, and what did they have to restrain them? "I mean restraining people is surprisingly easy. Most cables tied into a decent knot can contain most people rather easily. Denim works wonders! Towels are also hard to tear and wear down by hand. Going back to cables any cord longer than 6 foot should do the job just fine. And if we're worried about bites we should try some form of gag. Again denim but a leather belt does wonders too!" June exclaimed sharing her knowledge on how to restrain people with common household supplies! "I suppose we could use seatbelts or those restraining belts used in cargo if the truck has them..." She then spoke up her train of thought forcing her to ponder options. "Though I suppose they probably have hand cuffs. But they also have the keys to those. And the guns." Those were still on her mind. What if they decided to retaliate with bullets? Or were unwilling to cooperate? "..._{we should take their guns....}" June mumbled. "At least from those who are likely sick." She continued a little louder. And to her own guilt, with the slim hope of getting one for herself. Then she had to justify it logically. She needed logic to justify her decisions or they would all sound silly to herself. "The sick may become desperate. A desperate man with a gun is a problem. But if one turns and the others don't, leaving them unarmed is as good as dead. So we take the guns from the sick. The exposed. The bitten." She spoke in a cold logical tone without making eye contact with anyone but the energy drink she was holding firmly in both hands.

"We should check for signs often, if one turns and the rest don't we'll wanna separate them asap. And we don't wanna stay here longer than we have too." She didn't need to say the obvious. They were outside of the hot zone, and things were already beginning to fall apart. How long did they have until the military decided to amputate more of the sickness? Yes June was a creature of self preservation. Saving the cops right now was a step to that. They were the weak link now, but June was on the list. She just hadn't been inconvenient enough to leave behind yet. "Maybe we can find the driver of the truck? Either get them to come with us so we can keep moving, or barter for the keys?" Or steal the truck. But she wouldn't propose that in front of everyone. Especially cops. "Then we take both trucks and book it. As fast as they can."

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Tap room Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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"Golden unicorns sound much better than the dreams I had. Maybe your dreams will catch on and I can sleep a bit better from a while yeah?" Kathryn said to Kosara in hopes that the bad dreams were over. Though it was concerning Victoria was having the exact same dreams. The grin Kosara followed up with was mildly concerning. But Kathryn tried to chalk that up to Kosara being... Kosara. When Kosara turned to go assist BB with his morning flu, the glaring daggers Kathryn got from Kosara about her ever so slight alcohol abuse were hard to miss. Very hard to miss.

Speaking of BB, it seemed he was struggling from not only physical conditions from his assault last night, but it seemed the weather wanted a bite out of him too. Not much worse than not only getting the snot kicked out of you, but then getting sick when you should be recovering from it. Though BB did win, he was in rough shape. Then he did something that Kathryn was hoping he would forget about. And asked about Lizbeth. What Kathryn did next wasn't exactly freezing, but she did visibly hesitate. "No... nothing of note. just weird dreams." That empty face Lizbeth had last night when Kathryn woke. "Everything is just roses and peaches." Kathryn said in her best totally not guilty tone. A sweet totally innocent smile to go with it and everything!

What really unsettled Kathryn, was Lizbeth and the dreams she shared. Kathryn did visibly freeze. The poor girl was having dreams that were not only comparable to what Kathryn and Victoria were having, but with an extra leg of Mother Fucker to go with it. "I guess so, some of the dreams I have had are kind of like that." What was she to tell the girl? That Lizbeth's dreams seemed to be far worse? No, not in front of the team. She would have time where it was just the two of them and she could try to talk more to Lizbeth about things then. What if the party thought Lizbeth was not only connected to the cause of everything? But also a direct cause in some form? What would they do then? No, Kathryn needed more evidence first. With a reassuring smile, Kathryn let Lizbeth return to her morning duties. And what if Lizbeth was a direct cause? Or related to it? What would Kathryn do then? The reassurance of assistance in the house was nice, and hopefully made it easier to help give Lizbeth to focus on something else, and a chance for Kathryn to have someone local who may be able to answer questions for the half giant as she went from smashing her foes, to learning to they were. A task that proved to be rather difficult, but not impossible!

As everyone listed off their plans for the day, confirmed what they all needed to do, Victoria had called Kathryn over. There was a thought on the edge of Kathryn's mind relating to the dream, but she couldn't place it. As a whole, she was unsure what was trying to connect. Maybe the setting was familiar? Maybe she knew something more? Had forgotten something by the time she woke and then remembered it? It was already weird how vivid the dreams were. But to this? She couldn't be sure. Stepping into the snow also proved rather difficult, forcing Kathryn to step as high as her legs could take her. Then she saw what the bard wanted to point out. "Son of a mother fucker...." Kathryn uttered when she saw the mountain in the distance. "Victoria, see what your teacher knows. Insist if you have too. I'm getting worried these are more than just dreams." Kathryn said before turning back to the public house. "Lizbeth, grab your gear, training's gonna be short today. We got work to do." In an ideal world Kathryn would skip today. But things were getting bad, and she wanted to make sure Lizbeth could keep herself safe should Kathryn not be close enough to assist.

Training was short today, and first Kathryn had to clear enough space in the snow so that Lizbeth could train effectively. If training was all they were doing today she would have Lizbeth practice in the several foot deep snow so she could learn to fight in disadvantageous positions, either making her own advantages or learning to make the most of a bad situation. But that would require a lot more recovery than she would have time for today. So Kathryn brought up points that could be useful, how high ground is a bit misleading for a melee battle unless you have some good reach, but it may come in handy if fighting an opponent far bigger than you. Kathryn made several strong points on making sure Lizbeth stayed fast and on her feet, emphasizing that someone like Kathryn would only really need to get one good strike on Lizbeth to knock her out of a fight, so the best thing for her was to not get hit at all. Tiring out an enemy and out lasting them was a viable strategy. Then they went into blade practice. Sparing, parrying, some disarming, and another session where Kathryn refused to give Lizbeth the win, though every day she was able to hold back less and less. Today's practice ended when Lizbeth got confident, tried to get a good poke well within Kathryn's reach making her a harder target to hit, and forcing Kathryn to either back off, risk the hit, or to make Lizbeth back off. Unfortunately for Lizbeth, it was the latter. Out of reflex a boot massive enough to support a half giant hit Lizbeth square in torso, sending her into a snow embankment. "Oh my gods I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Kathryn was still to a degree holding back, but the small bean was getting better and had triggered a fight reflex. "You caught me off guard and I panicked. Nothing is broken is it?" A short check, no broken bones, probably minimal bruising, but in terms of combat training it was a pretty minor blow. "That is probably enough sparing for today. Good job, I don't spook easy." Kathryn said with a relieved sigh as she made sure Lizbeth hadn't been folded like chair too badly. "Let's go... get to work yeah?"

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 49 / 49 Armor Class: 21 Conditions: N/A Location: Tap room Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn was a bit excited that Lizbeth was excited for the day that the two could truly duke it out with one another. Kathryn could only beat down the same people so many times before it was a bit less fun, though she would want to make sure Lizbeth could defend herself and take a hit before the half giant began to beat the common sense out of her. Alas beating small children with a warhammer was frowned upon in most cultures. Kathryn did let out a soft and warm chuckle as Lizbeth questioned the they that could be starving Kathryn so badly that she craved oat porridge. "There is no they, only me and my coin. I don't have any retainers in my employ due to some financial burdens at home. And my own cooking skills are... a little lacking. Outside of blade and steel, the lists that make up my skillsets gets really short. So I am thankful for any effort anyone can offer me." Kathryn then lifted the bowl of porridge with a smile as if to toast. "So like I said, this is wonderful. Thank you." She said as she finished off the bowl. Maybe her explanation was a little misleading. However, sharing just how bad things were was rather hard. And now that she had a chance to get something going, she had to be careful with what she shared of home. If things were stable though, she would have staff. Her cooking was lacking, her cleaning skills were non existent, though she was a passable baker. With help. "Knights from most noble families have a whole staff who take care of their needs so they can focus on training, fighting, and maintaining their selves and their gear. Though most knights have a horse too, and are a skilled rider with one too." Kathryn just let out a soft shrug. She couldn't really ride a horse all to well either.

Kathryn leaned in close when Victoria described her dreams. At least the ones according to her were weirder than normal. Though it did leave Kathryn questioning what V's normal dreams were like. Kathryn's pale skin seemed to drain of blood even more hearing Victoria's dreams. They were... all too familiar. "There was a prince in my dream. We were waiting for their arrival. We we're... doing awful things. Things that would make any decent person question their sanity. I wasn't in control of my own body as I did unspeakable things." Things that scared her. Things that would provoke her into a rage. Things that would mean nothing but pain for everyone if there was any merit to these dreams. "If you can, can you ask her if any sort of event ever took place near here? The scary part of the dream was not only how real it felt, but how familiar it felt." She paused again when she heard Victoria say that she has had another dream like it recently too. "This is my second dream like this. Do you think that something on the land could be causing it?" Kathryn asked their resident magic expert.

When Kosara arrived and chimed in, Kathryn was already pretty spent. But she didn't want to exclude the tiefling woman. Victoria seemed to brush her off a bit, but the woman probably had her reasons for such a thing. "Just some really weird dreams. Really unsettling and scary dreams. You haven't had anything like that have you?" She asked the tiefling hoping maybe she knew something too. Then Kosara called out Kathryn's breakfast drinking, and in a moment of panic, Kathryn froze, and tried to make up an excuse. Even debated tossing the cup she was drinking the brandy from. In the panic, she grabbed the cup, downed the whole thing, and set it down. "Noooo...." Kathryn said in the absolute most convincing manner. In a way an expert would be impressed! Even the best would have trouble seeing through her falsehood!

BB also created the perfect distraction for Kathryn to divert from this accusation that she was being an alcoholic! "Could have slept better but ya know? well enough. Just... weird dreams that cause nightmares." Kathryn said a little rushed, but she found herself unsure how else to quickly describe the unsettling dream. Lizbeth soon opened up with how everyone is spending their day, Victoria shared how she was spending hers training and asking about questions in the local hamlet. So Kathryn shared her plan too. "I'll be investigating the house, seeing what I can find out before anything else tragic can happen. Staring in the study. Lizbeth you're welcome to join me after training, I could use your local expertise on the matter. And if you have any questions for me about your training, knighthood, or anything else you'd like to know about you can ask about. I can't promise much outside of that as like I said before, my expertise is niche." Kathryn said right before tipping the bowl into her mouth emptying breakfast.

The Dead Don't Die.

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June Fowler

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Location: MRAP
Skills: N/A

"Probably? We seem to be basing a lot off of probably here." June mumbled in her seat. The noise of everyone talking the noises outside and her over thinking herself in her head beginning to drive her mad. She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. "....how long until we're leaving people behind for other reasons..." she muttered in a deep half secretive voice. She was overwhelmed. She was scared shitless. She wasn't even sure how she survived the day and if she got booted out next for getting scratched? Or because everyone here found her annoying? She was dead. At least before she may have been able to make a beeline for her car and book it. But now? Home was a 7 hour drive away in the best of conditions, which things were not now. And she didn't have a spare car laying about to drive either.

When Flynn took over things seemed to calm down. Ish. There was debate on even if they should vote at all, June was simply trying to not let herself break down. Stressed was an understatement. Every sharp sound or loud voice felt like it was personally attacking her. With a deep breath, a long sip from one of the energy drinks, and a mouth full of gummy worms, she slowed down her thinking, cleared her throat and spoke up rather meekly in an attempt to bring up her point to the group. "If we lock them out, we condemn them to death. We all know what it is like out there, and we can't be sure how it spreads yet." Her voice was rather soft in this moment, but if she didn't speak at all she would have to force herself to close everything out. She wasn't sure she could live with that guilt. "Do we... do we draw a line at what times it is okay to abandon people? If we don't like them? If they're too much a burden? Billie you're right Covid sucked ass, but we don't even know if they're sick." She paused, her eyes seeming to sink for a moment before another realization hit. "They also have the guns." June muttered. This could mean they were the only ones really in a position to protect them, but it could also mean a threat assessment. If they were left behind to die would they retaliate? Could the group defend themselves without the officers? She wasn't sure which direction she was leaning with it either.

Thankfully she wasn't totally alone. And others saw the fear of tossing people aside so carelessly. Where do we draw the line. "What if we restrain them." she muttered. barely above a whisper. Unsure if she could be heard the first time she cleared her throat, downed the rest of her energy drink, and spoke up with far less confidence, but a little more volume. "We could restrain them... the sick attack people, and if it spreads through bites and bodily fluids, a gag, restraints, and even s cheap disposable mask should do the job no?" June tried to plead optimistically. None of these people knew her. No one here could vouch for her. She knew she wasn't good at being social, especially under stress. She also knew in an emergency situation she was more a liability than an asset. the longer she could hold off the talks on kicking people away who were a problem the better. "Or maybe we can grab another car? Or a trailer to pull to act as a quarantine?" She spoke, her voice cracking as what confidence she held left failed her.