North Prairie Adventures - Rifts IC

[Punstarr]

Dark Energy glances at the Dog Boy, then back toward the others, then the Sheriff. He nods to the formerly victimized Dog Boy now.

"Can you take us to the scene of the attack? Maybe we should start there".

[Thunderhowl]

"So we're gonna find the weapons first? I thought I could sense a Psi-Stalker nearby while we were pacifying the demon, but that might've just been the Doc. Anyway, if it was one of the Rogue 'Stalkers, it's trail might be fresher, and it would likely know where the weapons are stashed."

Rex rummages in his pockets for the code-key to his truck. "I'll meet you guys outside, I gotta get my stuff."

Rex pauses for a moment to see if anyone has anything else to add before he recovers his gear.

[Xaq]

Karsh nods in agreement, casting a quick appraising mechanical eye over his new partners... the strange flying human and his priest friend, and the scholarly woman.

"Rex is right. If he already got a wiff of 'Stalker here in town, we should probably start our search here. We'll grab our gear, and start a search pattern around the bar to see if Rex can pick up the scent. If we find their trail, we go after them right off. If we don't find nothin, we'll check out the place where the Demon was attacked and see what clues we can find there instead. Sound like a plan?"

[Grtdrgn]

Morgan remembers his pack and races back into the bar just in time to catch Karsh's plan. Stealing a quick glance at Jane, Morgan strengthens his resolve. Addressing the group as a whole, he says, "I'm not sure how much help I can be, but count me in."

[Alina P]

"That sounds like a feasible plan." Jane says, nodding to the minotaur as she repacks her computer into her knapsack. "I imagine that the five of us will stick together for this? No sense splitting up while there are rogue Stalkers prowlin' around."

She is about to say more when the Line Walker suddenly bursts back into the bar. She flashes him a smile as he looks for his forgotten pack.

[Punstarr]

Dark Energy nods to the Minotaur. Sound reasoning in his opinion... though he has to admit he hadn't pegged the big guy to be that smart when he first saw him. Maybe some prejudice existed here, or maybe he was just used to the "Big Guys" being numbskulls on his world. He smiles to Pedro as he speaks of their friendship and nods in thanks to the priest. He glances to Jane, smiles to her and then offers another smile to the wizard as he returns to the bar. He waves to him curtly.

"Welcome back, man! Thanks for the mojo earlier"...

[Xaq]

"Alrighty then. Let's move."

Karsh drains his glass, pushes the table away and stands up, ducking his horns so they don't hit the lighting. He heads for the door Rex just went out of.

"We'll meet Rex in the street out front and see what he can pick up on. The rest of ya might as well pick up your gear and meet us there. Let's get this show on th' road."

[Tom the Fanboy]

Pedro also stands up and walks outside. "This is all the gear I will need until our journey leads us out of town. Then I will need to stop by the inn." Pedro has a small pack on over his poncho and his decorated staff. His dusty boots look sturdy but well worn by miles on the trail. He patiently waits for a chance to be of assistance.

[Grtdrgn]

Morgan picks up his pack, surveys the contents to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything, and satisfied with the contents, slings it over his shoulder.

"I too have all I require until we are ready to leave town. Then I will need to retrieve my motorcycle."

[Thunderhowl]

Rex dashes outside to retrieve his gear.

"Meet you guys out front!"

(OOC: Tom, I'll just be getting my C-12 and Neural mace out of the truck until we need to leave town, then Rex will need to make a stop at the general store/Mall.)

[Punstarr]

*Dark Energy follows Pedro... where his friend goes, the mysterious man will follow*

[Tom the Fanboy]

The group gathers, equipped, in the street. Rex mentions that someone from the bar, in full body armor, ran in a panic from the brodkil's attack. He had noticed it but was too busy at the time to think anything of it. Now that things have calmed down he realized that few people kept their full armor on while relaxing about town.

The party moves to the alleyway across the street, Rex in the lead, but he fails to pick up the scent of the suspected psi stalker. There is still no psychic flares in the area. Well, nothing suspicious. There's still the burster and the Technowizards nearby.

[Thunderhowl]

"Dang it. I can't seem *sniff* to *sniffsnuffle* pick up the scent *sniff*"
Rex pauses and shifts his slung rifle.
"Maybe this way."

Rex turns right and jogs along in a crouch, sniffing the air and the ground occasionally.

(OOC: Let me know when I can make another roll Tom, or if it's easier you can roll it for me and let me know the results. Rex will search in a widening spiral search pattern until he either hits the edge of town or runs across the scent...or another cool scent that'll further the plot. )

[Punstarr]

*Dark Energy watches the curious looking creature as he sniffs around for a scent... he'd seen mutant animals before, but they were few and far between and most assuredly an accident of some sort involving radiation or glowing slime. He muses a bit on how they're going to track these baddies... the dog creature can't possibly track them if they've taken vehicles out of town after all... right?*

[Alina P]

Jane follows along at the rear of the group, watching curiously as the Dog Boy sniffs at the air. It's a little unnerving to watch him track another psychic, even one as dangerous as a PsiStalker.

She relaxes slightly when Rex announces that he hasn't found anything yet. Perhaps the famed nose of the PsiHound isn't infalliable. Or, she reasons, it could mean that the Stalkers are somehow masking their 'scent', much as she is doing. It couldn't hurt to be sure that there's no psychic flares in the area...

She falls back from the rest of the group, pretending to lag behind as she studies her field notes. When the group is far enough ahead, she quickly darts down an alleyway and checks to make sure she's alone.

One deep breath, two... All clear... Quickly, she opens her mind to the world again. Her senses reel as the flood of thoughts from many minds tickle against her own, and she feels the familiar rush of euphoria at the sensation. Then, turning away from the rush of power, she hones her mind to search, to sort, to find any others out there who have the same brightly-burning psychic energy as herself.

**Prowl check = 13%
** 6 ISP spent for Detect Psionics, plus 28 spent for 40 minutes of Mask ISP (Tom - let me know if it's been longer/shorter than that - I was just estimating)

[Tom the Fanboy]

The mixture of smells thins out as Rex moves deeper into the gap between buildings. This dirt track has a planter box in one window, but nothing else to interfere with Rex's nose. After he passes the humble box of daisies he snorts and begins sniffing among the prints in the back half of the alleyway.

((go ahead and roll again))

Unfortunately most of the group has a hard time seeing Rex's progress since Karsh fills most of the gap between buildings. Nobody notices the back of the group either, as Jane's posture changes in very subtle ways as she reopens her mind to the world. Much like Res, she is unable to sense the presence of anything suspicious. The main source for the psychic energies nearby is the Technowizard shop down the block.

((Karsh and Rex may examine the tracks, after they pass by the tracks in the dust will be too scuffed))

[Xaq]

Karsh will examine the tracks with Rex, although he doesn't know much about tracking.

Chewing on his cigar thoughtfully, he says: "If this doesn't work, folks, we'll have to go back to where the attack happened and start from there. Unless anybody else has any bright ideas."

[Tom the Fanboy]

Rex walks into the gravel alley behind the smaller buildings and walks around in a small circle before kicking some rocks. He was unable to find anything. The group files into an alley just big enough for them to stand in, maybe three men wide. Karsh could likely lean his back against one building and tap the opposite with his gun arm. Pedro looks sympathetic towards Rex and makes a suggestion, "Perhaps if you described the person to us we could begin fanning out and looking for him on the main avenues and ways out of town. I know that Dark Energy would be able to quickly fly over the city and look for someone suspicious."

Rex ponders it and he does recall that the person was wearing body armor and was well equipped....
((Rex can make a Recognize Weapons Quality roll for each modern WP to try and remember the specifics of the suspect's gear. The armor unfortunately did not have anything distinctive about it, perhaps this was by design. ))

[Alina P]

The sudden scent of a very powerful psychic presence right behind Rex disappears just as suddenly as Jane turns away from the flood of minds and closes herself to the world. She continues on as though nothing happened, taking a few quick steps to catch up to the group as she continues to leaf through her travel notes. A few very hasty maps of the area have been sketched out, to aid her in navigating her way back here. They're practically useless, since they're based off of the little she could see while on her bike, but they do help her get her bearings.

"Where did the sherrif say the attack happened?" she asks Dark Energy and Morgan, the two people nearest her.

[Punstarr]

*Dark Energy walks into the alleyway and nods as Pedro speaks of him*

"Sure thing. I can soar out and scope things from a bird's eye view... just say the word".

*He glances sideways as Jane addresses him and tilts his head*

"Ummm... out in the wilderness I think. I admit, I hadn't been paying attention just then".

*He smiles a bit sheepishly*