Yeah, we played last night, and it was great. Here's what happened (apologies if it's too much from Nero's perspective):
We started out about a year after the battle of Sunken City, from which Nero, Canaveral, Joe's Girl and Topple had taken off and kept moving, just getting as far as possible from New Jerk for starters. We meet the PCs in the small village of Crimson, north of the Pit. Here's stuff that's happened in between:
- Canaveral has taken to the role of the Angel, and much of what we've been doing has involved helping people who need protection, healing or both.
- We've kept in the trail of Rolfball for some time, always reaching the places he's just raided, offering our help. Once we actually helped protecting a hold that had barricaded itself in a bunker from him. Around here somewhere Joe's Girl decides to go back to Rolfball - someone has to keep an eye on him, or something.
- We spent some time with Beastie's gang, an unruly lot that we didn't really establish much what they did. We picked up Beasties girl (at the time), Sin the Skinner (played by Daimyo's former player). She's pretty much an adventurer, spreads trouble without really thinking about it, wields a katana and is very hot. Anyway, she came with Nero and Canny when they decided Beastie wasn't their cup of tea.
- We traveled for a bit with a caravan-style nomad people led by Crin. Most notably helped them out of a real spot when crossing a dangerous mountain pass.
- Somewhere in there Topple left us, leaving only the three PCs travelling together. We never decided where he went, but I'd say either home, back to New Jerk (where Nail and Dubbs hang out) or he stayed with Beastie.
- Somewhere we also met Brace again, Newton's right-hand man. He'd gotten away from the battle with, surprisingly, Razor (Daimyo's masseuse and sniper) and was now just a gun-for-hire. Sin had sex with him way back, before he lost his eye, and he still protected her where he could.
So, we've been in Crimson for a few days and things aren't looking good. People are catching this weird strain of something, and Canaveral has tried all her stuffs to no avail. The town elders are putting together a team to go negotiate with the river people. They're wierdos who live downstream and are covered in that filth that floats on the river. However they might know something about the affliction.
That night Sin lures some innocent teenagers out by the river, they don't know if thy should expect a fivesome, for Sin to choose someone or just hanging out drinkin'. She ends up daring the tough guy, Levis, to jump over the river the poles that are to be the foundation for a bridge. It all ends, of course, with one girl falling in the river and being swept away. The mood is somewhat killed and they go back to the inn where Sin does not sleep with Levis, who was expecting to get some.
The next day a small team of the PCs, Levis and a few unnamed villagers set out to meet with the riverfolk. Halfway there we see a man on a raft, who says he'll take us to the leader. However Sin engages in innocent banter resulting in John (that's his name) coming ashore trying too get a kiss. That was Sin's first snake eyes on manipulate, but it wouldn't be her last one this session. Nero and Canny sigh and hopes Sin won't kill him (bad for negotiations) and eventually defuse the situation. John gets the idea that the River has chosen Sin, and that she should come to their place. When we near the collection of rafts that is the riverfolk camp, John says that he'll want Sin hostage if Glendower (the leader) is to come ashore. Sin agrees, and rolls for going aggro to ensure he doesn't touch her. She fails again and he starts blabbering about the River again. Things heat up, Nero's rifle is drawn and both Sin and John end up in the water, which gets into Sin's brain and is generally creepy. John gets her to the raft camp where where Glendower is very interested in what John has brought.
Sin tries to get across that that guy on the riverbank, Nero, is the one who actually wants to see you. Just when Nero tries to get their attention, however, a real downpour starts and they're effectively cutoff since they can't be heard and rifles can't be aimed.
Gledower then unleashes Diesel, the girl who fell in the water last night, who they've kinda converted. She rushes at Sin just to get sliced by a katana. The seize by force roll missed, though, so the katana gets stuck in Diesel's spine, Sin is surrounded and put in a small raft tied to the fleet, with John for company. They start moving the whole fleet downstream, and tell her they're going to the River's temple. Sin gets her sword back by baring some midriff, but is still stuck on a raft without even an oar. She calls for Brace, yelling straight out into the rain but also into the maelstrom.
Nero and Canaveral leaves their gear with the kids in a stranded boat they find, and take off to follow the rafts in the rain. Levis isn't that happy about it, but Canny goes aggro and makes them promise to stay.
Further down the river, the fleet enters a great old dam as the rain clears up. They're headed for the dam, where the riverfolk have made openings into the turbine halls from waterlevel. Atop the dam, however, Brace, Razor and Canaveral (now with extra Bonefeel) await them. They open fire with a sniper rifle and something automated, and the riverfolk respond with arrows. The rope that holds Sin's boat is severed by a well-aimed shot, and John is summarily executed. Sin cuts a log free, gets on it and starts to paddle with her feet. It doesn't go well because a), the maelstrom is in the water and the slime and it's creepy, and b), there's a strong current towards the whirlpool in the middle where water is let out of the dam.
Canaveral sees this and goes down into the structure to try to close the dam. She takes out a slime-head from the river people, but doesn't understand the levers and stuffs so she opens her brain for assistance. And there's Brine. She's like lying under the whole dam, or maybe in the lake, I'm not sure. Canny quickly closes her brain, and instead tries to resurrect the riverguy to help her. She fails her weirdo healing ability and the one who wakes up sin't the guy, it's Brine. Canny begs for help to close the dam and promises to come back to Brine if she does. To all the player's delight, she rolls 10 on that manipulation, meaning she won't have to keep the promise. The dam is closed.
About now is when Nero, tired and stressed out by gunfire, arrives by the side of the lake. How Canny got so far ahead of him he doesn't really know, it just happened. He notices that someone on a raft is preparing a glowing orb of some kind, and fires without getting a closer look. Luckily, it was a plasma grenade, so the end result was that the fleet exploded instead of Brazor. Sin looses grip of her log and is pulled underwater by the weirdness. She finally succeeds with "open your brain" and gets it to release her, at least temporarily. She is pushed towards the shore by a pillar of water, which really impresses those of the riverfolk who happen to be watching. Nero pulls her out of the water (opening his brain to help release the water's grip on her was also involved somehow) and she stays in his embrace for as long as it takes to realise that she's covered in slime! She immediately starts undressing and scrubbing herself, and Nero cannot do anything but watch. As soon as she's done, though, it's time to get away from the arrows. I roll acting under fire, which I've advanced, and roll 14.
Nero snaps out of it, pulls out the katana he was holding for her, and cleaves an arrow mid-flight. He then gets his rifle up, takes out the ones that were shooting their way, sweeps a blanket around Sin and walks away.
Canny, Brace and Razor join them by the lakeside where they round up survivors. The one's who are prepared to denounce the River and come to Crimson are promised help with their wounded. We wrap up and finish the session, with the PCs largely successful for a change.
I write uneven and incoherent session reports, someone else do it next time.