'Mori clipped his conelantern to one of the numerous handy pockets of his sturdy vest and adjusted his UV glasses. "Got to say, I'm of two minds tonight," he commented to his companion as he checked, first, his sidearm, and second, the camera function on his little drone. "Could be dangerous if we run in to one of the big nocturnal predators out here. What a sight it would be, though!"

((Armed and armored, got his cool warden cloak as needed.))

The night was alive with sounds, cries of nocturnal lizards filling the air. Smell of rotting fungi mixed with the scents of the night blooming flowers. Somewhere in the darkness, something hungry scuttled, seeking its next meal.

_______
OOC: The third table: 1d10o10 12
Please post your Investigation / Perception rolls.

His companion, as armored and carrying a heavy assault rifle, watched around carefully. "With respect, I'd rather us just find our mushrooms and go." A few hours ago, she was dressed in finery and dining well. She was hoping this would be as smooth.


----


Late evening inv/per: 4d10o10k3 17

"Yeah... I guess you're prob'ly right..."

Atsumori was much too absorbed in staring at a large nocturnal insect to notice the approaching ?????.

---

D7 LE--Investigation/Perception, don't get et!: 4d10o10k3 10

Trollokos!

The woods were indeed dark and full of terrors. With a sickening crunch, an alien creature dropped itself down on the ground, having stalked the two samurai from the heights of the fungal canopy. The strange creature was walking on eight feet, each appendage ending in a sharp chitin claw. It eyed the two samurai, all of its dark eyes gleaming in the dim light as it scuttled towards the duo.


______
Atsumori and Chiyoko count as Ambushed. They suffer -10 to their Initiative Rolls.
Please roll Fear 2 (TN 15)
Please also roll Initiative, indicate your Armor TN and how far the characters from each other.
Your assailant in the darkness is 60' from you.

Initiative / Your Worst Nightmare: 4d10o10k3 28

"What the fuck!" Chiyoko was slower to react than she might have liked. The creature didn't scare her, but it did catch her off guard. She moved to turn her HAR on it...

----

Late evening fear.: 2d10o10k2+6 28 fear passed
Late evening init. -10 ambush: 5d10o10k4-10 15
Armor: light
ATN: 30
Wounds: 0/38
HAR equipped
Void: 1/2

Atsumori dropped his mushroom basket, the soft thump as it hit the lichen underfoot drowned out by his cry of surprise.

"Crikey!"

Then his eyes widened in perhaps-unwise enthusiasm. "That's it, that's a White Death! Right here! Oh, this is amazing!"

Nevertheless, he began a prudent but belated reach for his weapons...

---
D7 LE--Initiative! -10 from Ambushed: 4d10o10k3-10 2

D6 LE-- Fear, TN 15: 3d10o10+5 16

Stance: Defense

Armor: Light Armor
TN bonus: +5
Reduction: 3
TN to be hit: 20 (base) +5 (armor) = 25

With its chitinous body clicking, the alien creature rushed at Atsumori, its many legs carrying it quickly over the mushroom covered ground.


________

White Death is next to Atsumori, 15' from Chiyoko. Remember that shooting in melee suffers -10 to hit.

Initiative:
White Death 28
Chiyoko 15
Atsumori 2

Training her weapon on the creature, she took a breath and fired off a shot, hoping to simply blow it to smithereens. Her hand moved to her sidearm, ready to pull it out while the HAR cooled if needed

----

HAR attack. 1 raise, damage. Emphasis: 8d10ro1o10k4 26 with 1 raise

HAR damage. -10 to enemy reduction: 9d10o10k5+6 40 damage, ignoring 10 reduction if hit.

Free action, move 10' back

The shot it the beast squarely in, alien blood and ichor showing the poor Atsumori. The creature remained standing despite the gaping hole in its side.

"Easy, girl--" And then a radiant beam slammed into the creature with a spray of inky fluid. Atsumori swallowed a yelp as he was showered in goo.

"Oh, I bet that hurt..." It was fortunate, perhaps, that Chiyoko was probably a bit too far away in the dark to make out his expression of pained sympathy. Still, Atsumori wasn't suicidal; he backed a few paces away from the creature and toward Chiyoko, unholstering his web gun as he went.

--

Stance: Defense (ATN 29)
Armor: Light Armor
TN bonus: +5
Reduction: 3

Simple action: 20' move toward Chiyoko (that leaves us 10' apart?) staying between her and the creature.

Simple action: draw web gun.

The creature, injured as it was, limped after Atsumori even as it opened the valves of it sickly bulbous head, spraying burst of noxious gasses that engulfed the two samurai, leaving them dizzy.



_______
Initiative:
White Death 28
Chiyoko 15
Atsumori 2

White Death is next to Atsumori, 10' from Chiyoko.

Death shroud:
Every character within 10' of White Death must test stamina against TN 20. Characters failing this roll become Dazed.

Dazed – A character who has been dazed suffers a penalty of -3k0 to all actions. Dazed characters can only use the Defense and Full Defense Stances and cannot perform an Iaijutsu duel. The character may recover from this Status Effect by making a successful Earth Ring Roll versus a TN of 20 during the Reaction Stage. The target may attempt this roll once each Round, and the TN decreases by 5 each time he fails the roll.

Yuriko was too dizzy to act, coughing and wheezing at the spores.

---

Raw stamina TN 20. Void: 3d10o10 8
Fail
Defense
TN 32
HAR may be fired again in round 3
0/2 void

"Defense mechanism! Bloody amazing," Atsumori wheezed appreciatively, swiping his streaming eyes clear with his sleeve as he staggered clear of the beast's claws and raised his webgun...

--
Stance: Attack (ATN 25)

Armor: Light Armor
TN bonus: +5
Reduction: 3

Not dazed.
D7 LE--round 2, Stamina to resist Dazed, VP. TN 20: 4d10o10 28

Free action: move 10' away from the animal, not toward Chiyoko; Chiyoko and Atsumori are, let's say, 15 apart.
Complex action: shoot!
D7 LE--round 2, web shot! Firearms. Unknown TN.: 5d10o10k3 27
If that hits, the White Death is Entangled and must take a complex action to break out with Strength vs. TN 20.

Web gun charges: 4/5

The alien beast tore itself free with a primordial screech, flinging itself towards the Phoenix samurai with murder in its eyes.
________

Initiative:
White Death 28
Chiyoko 15 Dazed
Atsumori 2 Fine

Chiyoko 10' from Atsumori and White Death who are next to each other.

Chiyoko was still trying to shake off the spores.

---

Raw stamina TN 20.: 2d10o10 12

"I can hold him, Matsu-san!" Atsumori shot Chiyoko a worried glance before shooting the White Death... a face full of enzyme goo.

--
Stance: Attack (ATN 25)

Armor: Light Armor
TN bonus: +5
Reduction: 3

Free action: move a little further back out of gas attack range (now 15' from animal, maybe 15-20' from Chiyoko)
Complex action: Shewt!
D7 LE--round 3, web shot! Firearms. Unknown TN.: 5d10o10k3 38

As before, TN20 complex Str check to escape.

Web gun charges: 3/5

The creature tried to free itself, but only managed to get tangled further, hissing in frustration.

____________
Initiative:
White Death 28
Chiyoko 15 - Dazed
Atsumori 2 - Channeling inner Steve Irwin

White Death is 15' Atsumori, who is 15' from Chiyoko.

Chiyoko learned that asking Orokos nicely did not get the results one wants.

----

Raw stamina TN 15. Please, Orokos?: 2d10o10 6

Keeping his web gun steady, Atsumori squinted at the bulbous shape of the White Death, obscured as it was by a tangle of enzyme webbing and forest shadows. How badly hurt was it? Could they perhaps leave it to free itself and get on with its own strange life, or had Chiyoko's shot already maimed it too badly for it to survive in the wild?

He couldn't tell.

A few vocal commands guided his camera drone in for a pass by the creature, just out of claw range. If he couldn't get out of this situation without being forced to put the poor thing down, he could at least get some video to study so that he could do better next time.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Matsu-san. You all right there?"
--

Stance: Defense (ATN 29)

Armor: Light Armor
TN bonus: +5
Reduction: 3
Simple action: what should I do about this critter?
D7 LE--round 3, poor squiddy? (Lore: Nature TN 25): 4d10o10k3 17
Simple action: Fluff cautious drone filming