A Chance Encounter

As you lay down, you hear the sounds of laughter, arguing, and merriment outside the tent. All the noise is quite loud despite how late it is, but you guess that a camp of mercs aren't necessarily the regimented type. The sounds keep you up for awhile until you're able to eventually tune them out. Sleepiness starts to weigh your eyes down until you're unable to keep them open anymore.




Darkness.




Muffled voices.




Your vision is blurry.




Soon your vision begins to come into focus.




The voices become clearer.




Your vision focuses completely and you realize you're in a cave.




But it seems familiar.




You've been here before.




You notice a pool of bubbling black liquid, as suddenly it hits you.




You're at the Black Spring. You feel a warm feeling in the pit of your stomach. Though you haven't been gone long, it seems like it's been forever since you've been this close to home. A smile cracks across your face as the feeling of home starts to spread through your whole body.




"AAAAHHHHHH! NOOOO!"




You hear a woman scream and your body goes cold again. The sound seems to pierce your ears as it echoes through the cave. But there's a dull feeling of dread mounting your thoughts.

You recognize that voice. You look around and on the ground, bound at the hands and ankles is your grandmother. Standing over her is a hulking figure that you can't quite make out; it seems out of focus still. The figure reaches down and grabs your grandmother's head. It looks like a baseball in the figures giant hand.

"YOU'RE INSOLENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. THAT YOU WOULD KEEP THIS A SECRET FROM ME IS QUITE THE TRANSGRESSION."

The voice is booming and so deep, it's as though the voice is speaking from the depths of Hell.

The figure reaches a hand back and draws a blade.

"I WILL SHOW YOU AND YOUR TRIBE WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO CROSS ME."

You scream out in defiance but your voice doesn't make a sound. You try to move but your body seems paralyzed. You can only look on helplessly as your grandmother crumples to the ground, a bloody, headless mess.

As you look at her body, the figure comes closer to you. Slowly.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The figure is right in front of you. You try to move and scream.

Useless.

The figures raises his blade and shoves it into your stomach.




Just then you jolt awake clutching your stomach. It actually hurts.

You see several figures come into focus standing above your bedroll. One punches you in the stomach again. The others begin laughing.

"Get her hands and feet!"

Several men jump on you, grabbing your limbs and holding you down.

(Make a Might roll.)

(Might roll for Jiang)

The member 'Good Karma' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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'1d100' : 84

Four men quickly lunge for your limbs as you reel from the pain in your stomach. Luckily, the punch didn't daze you as much as you thought, and you're able to shake the two men on your legs off by kicking them wildly.

"You bitch!" yells one of the men you shook off.

Both of your arms are still grappled by two other men.

"Just tie her up already you fuckin' worthless shits."

You recognize the voice that's giving orders. You turn your head toward the opening in the tent and see Russell standing there, smoking a cigarette.

The two men grab your legs again as Russell reaches and pulls a gun out of his holster.

Russell walks closer as he points the gun towards you. He presses the cold barrel against your forehead and leans down closer by your ear.

"If you don't stop struggling, I'm gonna have to empty this into your skull. And we don't want that. The High Evo is gonna pay quite a sum for you."

Betrayal. A fire burned in the pit of Jiang's stomach, setting her insides alight, her rage fit to spill over.

Scream held tightly in her throat, teeth bared, Jiang struggled to think rationally.

He betrayed her trust. After all she promised him, he deserved to die for it, to suffer for it.

But he had the upper hand.

She could probably break out, but what were the odds she could get her head out of the way of the bullet that was to come? If she first went for the gun however, she'd spend precious energy she'd need to get free.

She glanced at her spear and grappling hook. They lay tantalizingly out of reach, going for them would be another few precious seconds she couldn't spare.

How many of these men could she take down with her bare hands? Two? Three? Then what?

Jiang stared down the barrel of the gun, and straight into Russel's eyes. The stoic warrior from the night before couldn't be found in them anymore, replaced by a cold, empty, person.

Sweat dripped down her forehead. The atmosphere choked by the tension of last half-second and the smoke from Russel's cigarette.

She resolved that Russel was going to die. He would suffer through indescribable pain, fear, and helplessness before it all ended. And she would be the one to deliver it.

"Fine."

Jiang felt her stomach drop as she struggled to relax her muscles. Her eyes she kept locked on Russel however, unable to hide her hatred. If she wanted to fulfill her promise, she'd need to stay alive and look for a better opportunity. Then she'd strike.

A smirk grows wide across Russel's face.

"That's better."

He backs up and pulls the gun away from your forehead but keeps it drawn.

Russel nods toward the other men, the smirk never fading from his face.

A couple men chuckle fiendishly. You're unsure whether it's because of the pain or because you can guess what's about to come next, but you feel a pit growing larger and larger in your stomach. The four men tie you hands and feet together. This takes a couple minutes, during which your gaze does not leave Russel, standing, smirking, smoking. Once you're tied up, Russel holsters his pistol again and turns to leave the tent stopping halfway.

"Don't be too rough with her, boys. She'll be worth a lot I think."

He exits the tent and then, as if on cue, the four men begin punching and kicking you relentlessly.

(You take 20d6 damage.)

Anger and hatred only keep you conscious for so long, and eventually, one of the men lands a heavy blow to your head and everything goes black.





You hear the faint sound of muffled voices. They're close by, but you can't make out what they're saying.

Who?

Where?

You find that you're able to open your eyes again. Your vision is blurry at first then starts to become clearer.

You find yourself on the floor of what appears to be a wooden shack, the only light source a small sliver of light originating between some boards covering a window. A cursory glance around the shack reveals nothing too interesting. There's a stack of bedrolls set against a wall, looking almost in tatters. You also see the door that you assume is the way out.

It's hot inside the shack and the wood underneath where you're laying is slightly darker than the rest of the wood inside the shack, soaked from your sweat. It's hard to tell how long you've been out or how long you've been inside the shack. Your body is sore from the beating you took earlier and your head is pounding. You gather that the voices you hear are coming from outside the shack. You limbs are still tied.

Just then you hear a voice behind you.

The member 'Good Karma' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

'd6' : 1, 4, 4, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 5, 2, 4, 3, 1, 4, 5, 5, 4, 4, 1

Tied up beside Jiang was another individual who had ended up in binds, similar to her. "Are you awake?" His voice sounded meek and feeble, not to mention raspy. If she were to turn to the side to face him, she'd notice his flaky azure hair and porcelain skin. His hands were bound behind his back, and he was facing away. He wore khaki-colored robes that went down to his padded brown leather boots, matching his eyes. He turned to face her, causing some of the bone charms hanging off his neck to clack against one another. He looked her over in a clinical manner, taking note of her bruises and damage. "Y-you'll be okay." He whispered in a tone only the two could hear, not struggling against his bonds.

"I-I am not going to hurt you. My touch can bless you if I get out of this, give me a second." He spoke as he rolled to another part of the room, pushing himself up against the wall and attempting to use one of his innate abilities in order to untie the ropes binding his hands.

(+20 to Psychic Modifier)

The member 'Saint' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

'd100' : 1

As Saint focuses intently on the ropes, trying to untie them with his mind, a combination of hunger, thirst, and inexperience cause him to fumble. His mind wanders for a moment and he ends up untying his boot instead.

Unfortunately for the Psyker, his plan didn't go off without a hitch. Nearly tripping after he stood on his two feet and took light steps towards Jiang, he would seat himself and be nursing red cheeks on his face. "I don't have very good control of my abilities, the spirits didn't approve." He said, biting his lip as he thought about how to introduce himself. "The people around Kaho call me Saint, I am as close to their healer as they can get." He took a moment to sit down and get comfortable, evidently to tell a story. "I was captured by this mercenary Russell not too long ago. It feels like I've been here for ages, but if I'm being realistic, it must have been two days I think? I was held at gunpoint and opted to cooperate after I left the town on an expedition."

"I tried to... I tried to help out the mercenaries here, hearing that they were camping out in this area by word of mouth. I knew it wasn't the best of ideas but I figured they wouldn't mind the help." He seemed downcast as he spoke, finding the ground interesting. "I guess things like me go for a lot of caps in this day and age."

Jiang, having just recovered from her unconsciousness, tried prop herself up against the wall, her body struggling to do even that.

She groaned slightly as she got to her feet, allowing herself to lean against the shack wall, closing her eyes, and just breathing. She had some swelling. Side of head. Facial muscles felt meaty on that side. Hurt to move. It hurt to breathe also. Maybe she bruised a rib? Other than that, the rest of her felt battered, but alright.

Jiang opened her eyes, and took a shakier breath than she'd like. She was in pain. So she was alive.

Jiang slowly walked to where Saint was, slowly seating herself on the floor in front of him.

"Me too I suppose. I'm Jiang."

Jiang couldn't help but groan slightly as she remembered her situation, and why it was that she was in it.

"I went to the mercenary camp for help. Russel tricked me into sleeping in his tent, and he caught me by surprise the next morning."

She could feel her fists balling up. A twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"And now I'm here."

Jiang took a deep breath or two ass he let her anger pass, giving Saint an appraising look as she spoke to him.

"You were on an expedition? What were you doing when he caught you?"