3-10: Derelicts of Heaven

Having left Mongrel behind, the gang plans to adventure around the northwest, seeing what they can see. They haven't been up this way before but from atop the ridge surrounding obedience, they think they can see a forest up ahead, a rarity in this world. This could go one of two ways. It could be a nice forest like the Hidden Forest where the Flotsam Ninjas live. Or it could be a land that's remained so green and unspoiled only because there's something there so dangerous that makes it not worth settling.

Shryke cuts in. She's heard of this place: The Shrieking Forest. Horse perks up at this, suddenly remembering he bought a leaflet of tech hunter notes on the place back in Squin.

The gang has had a minor run-in with the shrieking bandits once before, when they attacked a group of cannibals that was fighting some of them. They'd hoped to join forces against the cannibals but ended up in a three-way mêlée when the shrieking bandits started fighting them too. They decide they'd rather not waltz right through the home of such unpredictable people, opting instead to stick as close as possible to the shore of the Floodlands as they travel.

When they ultimately climb a steep hill up from the western bank of the Floodlands to find a vast plain and only a few trees in the distance, they're pretty sure they've avoided the Shrieking Forest entirely. The shrieking bandits, however, don't really care about things like “borders”. The gang suddenly finds themselves in the midst of several shrieking bands, sprinting this way and that across the plain while screaming in an incredible display of endurance.

Horse takes point, approaching what seems to be the leader of the nearest band. He's pretty sure he can replicate this Swimmer's success.

Horse smirks. Simple as. The shrieking bandits sprint on, leaving the gang alone.

As the gang presses further on into the plain, the bandits' excitable shrieking yields to a howling wind. This is a lonesome place, a place of wind, rock, and ruin as far as the eye can see. It's called the Purple Sands.

These towering ruins looks like crashed satellites, don't they? The gang doesn't comment on it—I'm sure none of them aside from Burn would have a clue what a satellite is—but they look like satellites to me. The ancients must have been spacefarers; I wonder if they came from this moon originally or landed here?

The gang may not know to ask that question let alone how to answer it but they have their eyes on the prize. The long building behind the windmills in the above screenshot is a Post-Ancient Workshop, another ruin the gang has had their eye on since uncovering a treasure map to it a while back. They approach to find the only thing moving is the surviving windmill, complaining of the sandy winds and its thousands of years long vigil in rhythmic creaks and squeaks.

Shryke and Silvershade get right to work, searching the old ruin for locked boxes to break into. They find a couple at the far end, across the bridge from the ramp up. Jam tries their hand at a lock closer to the entrance but finds themself frustrated by the fine motor limitations of their skeleton arm. Ells has to take over.

Between the three pick-locks, they find a goodly amount of engineering research, a decent katana, some valuable old tech, and a sublime, Masterwork-grade crossbow.

The most stock-standard crossbow in the modern world, the ranger is actually considerably easier for a character to shoot accurately with than a tooth pick and it's deadlier besides. Masterwork's the highest grade in the game for crossbows (and for armour) so this one's a real beaut; Silvershade and Shryke eye it longingly. By the time they work through the toothpick bolts they both have stocked and the gang picks up some regular bolts to use with the ranger, one of them will surely have high enough Precision Shooting that I'll be comfortable making them its new owner.

While this Post-Ancient Workshop made for a fruitful venture, it is the only landmark the gang can do anything with in the Purple Sands. They take a moment to gaze out across the plain from the workshop's shelter. There's a beauty to this place's desolation, a certain comfort regarding the long horizon, listening to the wind's steady howl, knowing one is well and truly alone. A beak thing trotting across the distance is just that, no less or more than another animal like you on its way from one place to the next, no more able to claim ownership of this barren land. There is no water here, not above ground nor under it. There are no minerals worth exploiting. The Purple Sands respond to notions of “territory” with callous indifference; all are equally unwelcome here.

The wind changes direction and Jam gets a bit of sand in their eye, cursing the fact that no one can be bothered to make protective eyewear for hive soldiers. The romantic moment passes.

Continuing on north from here will bring the gang to yet more new frontiers. They have marked on their map the city of Deadcat, a place with the same name as the faction all the fishing villages belong to, but it's right smack in the middle of cannibal territory. The gang is wary but curious. It could be like Mongrel, a sanctuary in the heart of a land of merciless people eaters. It could be cannibal central. There's only one way to find out so they resolve to approach. Cautiously.

The Cannibal Plains really are a fascinating place. The purple rocks jutting from the side of this hill aren't a resource the gang can exploit but they sure do contribute to a unique and pretty landscape.

A couple hours later, the gang finds themselves puzzling over a field of weird pink stems jutting from the ground: Plants? The weirdest mushrooms anyone's ever seen? Some sort of... land coral? They almost don't notice a lone skeleton tech hunter in the middle of the field being attacked by a couple dozen cannibals.

The gang takes a moment to appraise the situation and quickly realizes the skeleton is not in trouble in the slightest. Their mighty fragment axe chops through cannibals like a machete through vines, leaving bodies and limbs strewn across the hillside. Still, the gang figures more's the merrier. They help the skeleton clean up and Jam even gives them a bit of spot repair before they part ways.

While the gang is still patching themselves up, the rain turns to acid. The humans and shek all start swearing up a storm. They're caught completely off guard, having forgotten it even could acid rain up here in the Cannibal Plains since it happens so rarely. Lacking shelter, they beat a hasty retreat south to the Floodlands, the closest place they're sure will be acid-free.