WittyReference

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Deep in the bowels of the ship, the dreary, leaky dark of the ship, amid the food stores and plundered cattle sat Cub and Shavie. Harding might have objected to allowing such a beast on her ship though which one was anyone's guess. In the dim below, Cub toyed with the dagger, turning its cool silver over again and again in his hands. This was it, this was his tool. A gift from the Stronger.

Cub had never thought much about morality. Cub had never thought much about anything really. Zhaveed knew what to do, Cub did it. Simple, really. Why did the rest of the world need to complicate things so much? When the strong speak, the weak obey. When the weak obey, they are strengthened for it. We live and die for each other.

They were Heroes. Statues and everything. They led by example, they showed strength in the face of danger and the weak were inspired. They stood between the spear and the masses and lived.

Cub climbed in the mouth a dragon so his friends would live!

...If everything is so simple, why is it all so complicated?

...

Cub missed Zhaveed.
Zhaveed understood.
Zhaveed never asked Cub what he thought.
Zhaveed knew the burden of strength...

Cub continued to toy with the blade in his hands.
It was all too much. Too much. Too much! Too much noise! Too much thinking!

RAUAUUGHHH!!

Cub yelled in frustration and hammered his fist against the wooden beams benath him.

"ONE! We live together. We die together. Zhaveed's tribe is my tribe. This is the rule!"

Again, cub pounded his fist against the wood.

"TWO! The Strong protect the Weak. They carry their burdens and are made stronger for it. This is the rule!"

Again a large gauntlet emphatically hammered the ship.

"THREE! The Strong challenge the Weak! Without outside danger, the Strong must test the Weak. This is the rule!"

A final time Cub smashed his gauntlet then removed it from his hand and drew the silver blade along his palm.

"These the Rules of Cub the Outcast as witnessed by Malacath, Pariah God and Patron of All Orcs. Sealed in bloodoath, I will uphold these rules and die a good death. "

Then silence.

Seething to himself, Cub sat a long while in the dark.

Shavie, unflinching, merely stood beside him in the dim below, his ragged breathing matching Cub's own.

"Shavie."

"Shavie, I'm going to go test the Moon Shadow now. If he's strong, he'll take us to Zhaveed."

"Shavie."

"I'm going home."

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

Finally got my post up! Decided to cut the bit about how Scrap won the hearts and minds of Freeside and arguing with himself as to whether or not to join the NYSS firefight but ultimately walking away since he's supposed to be on his best behaviour. Nice additions but not really necessary to get the game started.

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

The Old Mormon fort bustled in the midday sun, just another busy day in Freeside. With House victorious in the Battle for Hoover Dam, New Vegas' influence grew to new heights and with it the shadow it cast over the outskirt town of Freeside. As ever it remained refuge for the destitute and greedy either seeking entrance to the Strip proper or fuming their removal by one of the seemingly omnipresent securitrons patrolling the glistening gem.

The influx wasn't all bad though, the Followers had found some reprieve in the steady tide of strangers. A pair from the East with a way with critters; Great Khan Refugees with friends in low places; want makes strange bedfellows though none more-so than Scrap.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Julie Farkas called amidst the ebb of white coats and immigrants, worry hidden beneath her chipper tone. Over a decade of stress had aged the young woman since House won the Dam though she retained most of her looks...though whether that was a good thing or not depended on the frequency of her patients' cat calls on any given day. "We weren't able to divert much from the effort here but Michael is bringing a few Med-X around now for if the voices start acting up again. We need you on your best behaviour, understand? And keep these out of sight, we're running low as it is." Julie chirped a motherly reminder as she eyed the Followers' de facto ambassador sternly.

"Yes, Joolie... Rauuugh, I understand, Scrap will behave for Haylee. Scrap will not listen to voices... Aughh, Scrap will just work, work and behave." The guttural drawl and measured pondering of the Nightkin before her calmed Julie's nerves a bit; if he was stalling he was thinking and if he was thinking it meant he was paying attention. Farkas had learned how to read the Nightkin's intents fairly well over the years given his species' notorious unpredictability. She just wondered how he'd fair with strangers...

Julie was pulled from her thoughts as another white coat tapped her on the shoulder. "I've got the Med-X you wanted though we'll need a new shipment soon if this thing with House doesn't pan out; I still say we should send someone else to talk to them, people are dying here, Julie, I really don't think sending the mascot is gonna-"

"Enough." Julie grabbed the small case of needles from the whitecoat's hands before returning to her more agreeable demeanor. "I understand, Micheal but Hayley knows what's she's doing. If these rails are the best way to get the Followers in House's good graces then we need to send our best engineer, simple as that."

Visibly upset, Julie moved closer to the whitecoat and spoke in hushed tones. "Speak to the Khan again, see if you can arrange that shipment, double our last offer. With Tenpenny's caravans choking out the competition it'll be harder to get through unnoticed but we need those supplies." With that, the whitecoat nodded and shuffled away.

"Looks like time's not on our side, Scrap." Julie sighed, wiping her brow in the intense heat. "Hayley and I have arranged for you to get into the Strip. Tell the Securitrons at the gate you have business at Lucky 38, got it? Lucky. Thirty-Eight."

"Lucky Thirty-Eight, got it. Guuuagh, Joolie?"

"Yeah, Scrap? Did you forget something, do I need to go over anything again?"

"No. I not forget. Scrap just wonder why Joolie not just ask Haylee to get Med-X. Pennyman has good junk, Pennyman can trade for lots of chems!"

Julie smiled and stepped toward the Fort's exit, causing the Nightkin to follow. "Maybe someday Scrap, for now you've got somewhere to be."

Scrap nodded then shouldered his enormous satchel of bits and bobs and adjusted his Trader's Cap. "Bye Joolie, Scrap got things to find, work to do!" And so he was off.

_________________________________

"Shoouee!! Big fellar like you must be here for the barn-raisin'! If you'd just follow me up to the penthouse we'll see if we cain't find you a seat. Some o' your compadres are already here so feel free to mingle like."

As soon as Scrap crossed through the gates of Freeside, a strange robot called him over. whether this was coincidence or simply someone wanting to minimize the amount of time the Strip's patrons and the Mutant spent together was anybody's guess. As Scrap followed the cowboy robot up the intricately lit stairs and into the grandiose 38, he listened closely to his tour guide's instructions though was soon distracted.

"Metal Man, you grind too much! When was last time you check axle? Sound like, Aauughh, too much weight on one side, you carry lots Metal Man?"

"Now now, I ain't one t'kiss and tell, hombre. Suffice it to say not all o' our guests here tonight got here in as good a shape as you, pardner. Speakin' o' which, this's your stop! Enjoy your stay at the Lucky 38, pardner! Yeeehaw!"

With that, the doors to the penthouse opened and Scrap stepped into the large suite; crisp, clean, and no doubt hiding some very good junk. Two humans sat at the far end of the room and a third very small human stood mere feet from the elevator. Looking down over the man, he noticed the explosive beneath his foot. "I need this." With a gentle nudge, Scrap knocked the small man to the side and quietly took the grenade.

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

I've a post ready to go, just gonna look over IC for any new developments since I started writing I should include.

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Psyker, any word on if you wanted to do the Come To Jesus Meeting with Hravlar and Cub or should I go skin the Moon Shadow now?

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

Simply so it isn't lost to the sands of time, I drummed up a solution as to Scrap's involvement; it's some pages back.

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you out on it! Like I said, I just thought they were just secret stuff or stuff from the DLC :p

EDIT: In one of the other RPs I'm in I wanted to keep stuff hidden in the CS so I sent that part to the GM in a PM; all those acronyms might work well for you as well if you'd rather us find out later but still get the full story approved.

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

I really like Ellie, can you tell me more? I assume she picked up her stealth skills from Nyss? Or was she just a troublemaker in the orphanage? :p If that part is spoilerish to the Nyss storyline or similar I understand, just curious. Also, did the Animal Friend perk evolve out of her time as a doctor? Like, is it her nurturing nature that brought that about or has it just always been? I never played the Pitt DLC but I know a bit, are there like wild dogs running around there or just troggs everywhere? Do troggs count as animals?

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

Well, I couldn't get anyone to take on Scrappy as a pet last night but I stand by the idea. The lummox has proven stable enough to deal with humans when necessary (i.e. Barter is his secondary skill and how he manages to sell off his created weapons for more junk to build more weapons to sell for more junk to build more weapons.) Between a history of passable interaction with the Wasteland and his natural expertise at recon, I don't think would be too outlandish if Tenpenny had come across the oddity himself and thought it useful. No doubt the traders who have dealt with the comically dressed Nightkin would remember the incident and with Tenpenny A. moving caravans through the Wasteland anyway and B. having just spent a large bit of time and money finding old world tech to get the rail mechanism working he no doubt would have use for someone who can not only help recoup those losses financially but also search for more tech for the low low price of a tin can and a toaster. As long as the proper precautions are taken and there's enough stealthboys to go around, Tenpenny stands to make a very large profit here.

My answer as to why Tenpenny would allow a Nightkin in his expedition is simply because he's the one who put him there.

Fallout: The Long Haul (ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW PLAYERS)

I don't suppose anyone's character would have had need of a lovable Nightkin bloodhound in their travels, would they? I'm not above being a +1; hell, he's a support character already.

EDIT: Just throwing this out there, Poe seems to have an equal appreciation of "re-purposing" and explosions are a mighty fine distraction for some sneakystabby.