3B - One flew over the cuckoo hut

3B - One flew over the cuckoo hut

6/28/3010

It has been two days since Wujen performed the group bond ritual when Harumi shows up asking for aid. "Oh good! I've found you," she says, "You said that you would come to help if I asked and well, I am asking. There is a creature who has taken residence near our peach farm. She has kidnapped a couple of my people and I have been unable to figure out how to even enter her residence, much less rescue them. Please, if you could send some people to help save those who have been kidnapped and drive the creature away, I would most appreciate it."

There are a couple of unspoken yet obvious concerns with the timing and location of the job. The first is that the area where Harumi's farm is will take some time to get to and is far away from any kind of matrix towers. Communication back to the other team may be difficult and it would take them some time to get to you and respond even if you do contact them. The second is that a major typhoon is expected to hit sometime tomorrow. If this job takes longer than the day, you may have to hunker down and wait out the storm in the wilderness with Harumi's people or wherever else you can find shelter.

Harumi's ghostly form floats quietly, awaiting any questions you might have.

Sam has his satellite link ((presumably he got that back from Chougou, and signed all Chougou's gear back over to him, when Chougou came through the other side of having his soul eaten)). So, we should be able to communicate. Though, actually getting help from the other half of the team will still be most likely impossible.

WuJen answers her "Of Course we will come tome help.  Since we are coming down, is there anything you need from the city that we can bring with us?  Can you or any of your people meet us at the train terminus so we don't have the issues we had getting there last time?"

Harumi nods and says, "I will have someone there to pick you up. We have everything that we are in need of at the farm. It is I who will owe you for this help. I am unsure what you would consider proper compensation, but I can at least teach some magic to you Wujen, if you wish. The home of the creature that has kidnapped my people might be valuable to someone, I suppose. It is rather... unique.

"Otherwise I am afraid I can only really pay you in peaches. I can give you a whole bushel of them if that is acceptable. That will no doubt fetch a fair price in the city."

Sun waves at Harumi. "Long time no see! I hope you've recovered well. That creature... What do you know about it?"

Harumi says, "Nothing. I only know where it currently lives. It's home is a sort of hut with a gate of bones and skulls surrounding it. The hut itself appears to have chicken-like legs and can walk. My people were investigating the hut when they were taken."

"While money is always a problem, we can worry about that later.  The Peaches and perhaps any magical knowledge you want to share will suffice, people are always more important.  I and a few of my friends will be there as quickly as the trains will run."

Harumi nods and says, "Understood. I will tell my people to be expecting you. They will bring you either to the farm or to the hut as needed. Thank you again for your help."

She then vanishes, leaving you all to whatever preparations you need to do before hopping on the next train down the mountain.

Turning over to Sam, Sun asks him: "You ever read about chicken-legged huts and such online?"

Matrix search for huts with legs:
Sam Dekker carried out 12 launched of one d6 :

, , , , , , , , , , ,

((Time to use this new Influence skill!))
Sun puts his hand on Sam's shoulder. "GO GO SAM! YOU CAN DO IT! MATE WITH THOSE TRIX! GO SAM GO!"
RafV carried out 3 launched of one d6 :

, ,

Despite all reason, Sam, who would normally be really put off by someone screaming at him, actually manages to perform slightly better under Sun's cheering, which makes him uncomfortable.

He does find rumors of a chicken legged hut appearing around the world since ancient times. It is rumored to belong to an old witch named Baba Yaga. While it always appears in the wilderness and never directly in towns, the towns that it does appear near all have large facilities belonging to Ankev Industries. It is unclear whether this is simply coincidence or if the witch has some unknown agenda involving the company. The sites have blurry images of what they claim to be the witch flying around in a giant mortar, directed by an equally massive pestle.

"It's a witch," Sam says. "Named Baba Yaga."

Can I get a magical background or magical threats roll for info on Baba Yaga and her chicken coupe?

(( Sure thing))

Baba Yaga is quite famous among people who study powerful magical beings as she and her hut have been around for as far back as recorded history goes. The High Council of elves in Llayath (the biggest elven city in the world) have long had a feud with her, though they don't advertise as to exactly why this is the case. Her magic is said to be at least on par with dragons, perhaps even more powerful than that.

In the very least she is capable of creating magical artifacts that the rest of the world can only dream of. Her two most famous being her home and her flying mortar and pestle. There is not much to say about the mortar and pestle other than she flies around inside it and it makes deafening sounds like thunder as she does. The home however is rumored to be alive and containing an impossibly large interior. Baba Yaga is of course able to navigate it with ease, but to any intruders, it is a hopelessly confusing maze of rooms from which one can only escape if the witch allows it.

To date there is only one known person to have escaped the hut, a woman named Kenzi Malikov. She is deceased, though currently residing in the city of Moonshade. According to her account, the rooms seemed to shift so that even if you back tracked through a door you had already been through, you would often find yourself entering a completely different room. The rooms were like something out of a fairy tale or children's story with ridiculous puzzles, and equally ridiculous occupants. She only managed to escape by stealing a map that eventually allowed her to find her way back to the entrance. Though Kenzi supposedly still has this map, she is not willing to give it up, apparently for fear that she might one day have to return to the hut. The fact that Kenzi is now a banshee has prevented people from trying to force it from her. There have been other things that she has said about her experience, including something about an emerald necklace, but since banshees aren't known for lucid conversation, most of it is just incoherent rambling.

((World Note: These are places on the other side of the planet, so not really practical to visit prior to the run.))

"An emerald necklace... I wonder what it does"
Looking over at Sam, he asks: "Can you do some of your tech mojo to find anything on the amulet or map? The more we know about items that can help us, the better"

There is no mention on the matrix of either of those things.

"Well, it seems to me that at the very least we can expect tools and help once inside to find the way out again. I wonder if the map somehow changes to reflect the inside of the house, or if there is some kind of predictible pattern in it's changes that can be mapped out. It may be that Sam will prove very useful on this trip, despite the lack of matrix out at the farm."

Not from me. Doesn't seem like there is much that can be done to prepare, as all the information on what we may face is extremely vague, and the only known survivor found all she needed inside.