GM: Paul
Players: John-Alex, Brad-Ian, Dusty-Matt, Jon-Simon, Bill-Chet, Laura-Lucy, Paul-Meaghan(NPC)
Game Date: December 23, 2018

Dusty, Ian, Alex and Meghan along with Va Roln, KiSi, Huey and Mahwaew roll into Ironwood with their snowmobiles. The snow is quite high in mid-October. They have two hab units and three manufacturing hubs that are Talolan. The people in the manufacturing building wave them in. The facility is pretty open and they are working on some vehicles. They have big power units like the Hub has which are giving heat and electricity.

Alex asks the two Ironwood men if Talolans are welcome here, nodding to the other two that are traveling with them. They say “of course” and offer to bring the group to one of the hab units for some coffee, though the evening meal is done. One introduces himself as Edmund and the other is Bobby Turner. Edmund seems friendly and Bobby is kind of a goof.

There are several people gathered in the hab as the newcomers come in. One of them is an older Native American-looking man. The four the party are traveling with wave to him, and when Ian asks who he is, they let him know that he is Mac. Ian asks if he is a leader, but they say there isn’t such a thing here, but he’s done some organization into scouting groups and watches — he is a former army ranger.

Coming into the mess hall, everyone sees a four foot pile of granite and some sort of a plant creature. The others are puzzled but Alex explains that there were other races in the Talolan solar system that they also tried to save. The M’ket – crystaline creatures and Kalydians are the plant people. In all, there are eight people who are not from Earth here. There are six people with heavily Native features, a couple of kids and five others who appear to be joiners.

The hosts bring out some stew and coffee for the newcomers. Everyone introduces themselves and Chet asks about Dusty’s dogs. He tells his story about living in north central Wisconsin and as things got difficult up there with equipment breaking down and strange creatures and razor grass, he ended up in Ironwood. He came with a woman named Brynna who also introduces herself, she is an acupuncturist and herbologist.

Ian goes to talk with Mac and salutes, but Mac says “that was a long time ago, sit down.” Ian asks him about his service and he says that he served all over the place in the Marines for over 20 years. Ian was an MP in the army and served in Abu Ghraib but not as long. Ian says that he’s the leader of the group by default as most people come to him with questions. Mac says that he’s in the same boat. He talks about how he was here and several pods fell down and created the buildings here.

Chet asks Alex about the “pods” that have come down, and Alex explains about how the Talolans and others came here, the pods, mutations, etc.

Alex says that he’d like to go to Menomonee Falls to speak with a doctor who might know something about the blue virus. Chet asks about that too and they explain. Meaghan offers that these are “still people” but sometimes we have to put them down.

Ian expresses concern that it’s almost Christmas and they’ve been gone from the Complex for two days. He asks Mac if they have a radio.

They come back a while later and Alex explains that they will head out in the morning to go to Menomonee Falls to talk to a researcher there about the blues, and then head home. Ian says that there are “other things” that happened as well. He lets Meaghan and Dusty know that they spoke with Scotty and he told them that after a cloning accident a Talolan had taken up residence in Simon’s head. Everyone makes light of the situation, Meaghan saying “That’s unfortunate,” Ian saying “I hope the Talolan is okay” and Dusty saying “That’s got to be pretty bad to have Simon inside you, you know about that, right Meg?” She rolls her eyes.

Chet asks to come along to Falls because he might have family that’s still there. Ian agrees, but then Chet starts talking about coming to the Hub. Ian doesn’t seem comfortable with him “inviting himself” to the Hub.

Back at the complex, a doctor (Amir) comes in to check on Simon and he says that the rest of the group made contact and they will be back in the next few days. Simon is in a bad way with his headaches and thanks him, then goes back to sleep.

The folks in Ironwood head to sleep. The next morning a woman named Gracie May is making food for everyone. Brynna is there too. After everyone is finished, Edmund takes everyone back to the manufacturing building and says that he topped up the gas tanks and checked the oil on the snowmobiles. Ian is very thankful.

A blast of cold air comes at them as the garage door is opened. The going is pretty quick to Falls as it’s a big stretch of country and no cars.

There is an old Army listening post west of Falls that is abandoned and it’s now a medical facility. They are welcomed inside but Ian asks Chet and Meaghan to stay outside. Dusty stays outside as well. They meet Lucy who is a scientist. She says that she was infected with the blue virus and she was cured, and they are studying that with the limited facilities they have here. She also serves everyone in the community and spends a lot of time going out to people in the area as well. She also mentions that there are some crazy people up at Holy Hill. They may need more protection.

Ian suggests that those at the Hub help out to get Lucy some power for her facility that’s more reliable or to have her come down to the Hub, and she appreciates the help.

Also, Ian asks for some migraine medicine for Simon, and she says that they have some in stock. She has 20 doses of Triptan that she gives to Ian.

Afterward, Meaghan gets a physical exam done by the staff.

Chet talks with Lucy and asks about his family. They ran a machine shop in Falls and owned a feed store near Germantown. Lucy doesn’t know them in particular but asks the staff and they say that off of Donges Bay Road near Mequon there is an Orlowski farm.

Chet asks Ian if they could make a stop and he’s not sure, because they wouldn’t be getting back home until after dark. He radios Scotty and lets him know that they will be coming back later.

The group heads out from here and goes up to Donges Bay and Granville to the farm. Unfortunately there is no one here. They quickly turn around and head back to the Hub so they can get there before dark. It is a long, cold ride.

Ian loads them into a small shack and tells the newcomers not to come out. They are curious what is going on and Alex explains that there is a security system, and he needs a swab of their DNA to add to the system so they don’t get zapped. Meaghan stays with them.

A woman in her late 20s comes into the door and says “I’ll take it from here.” She has a clipboard and asks all kinds of questions about their medical history. Brynna is confused as to what is going on but Chet just gabs away telling his whole life story.

After a short while, Chet is brought into the compound. He sees the main building and the pylons all around which look to have major weapons on them.

Ian brings the meds up to the doctor so he can give them to Simon. The doctor says it’s exactly what is needed.

Simon is happy everyone’s back but complains about the pain. The narcotics that he’s on are making him feel better but very foggy. Having someone in his head who doesn’t speak his language has been very hard. Ian is worried that the Talolan may take over Simon’s mind. Alex says that he has a device that creates a field that’s helpful for calming his mind that the Talolans use for meditation. He turns it on and tries to mindlink with the alien, but he can’t quite make it work.

Simon asks to head back to the bunkhouse with the others, and the doctor agrees. Simon feels ashamed that he caused trouble and got sick on the doctor, and thanks him.

The others take Simon back to the bunkhouse and crash. Ian is concerned about Simon having a gun so he takes it for safekeeping for now. Chet is given a spot in the bunkhouse and is happy to have heat and hot water.

As we fall asleep, a strange lucid dream begins. Oddly everyone is there including Chet. Everyone is in their jammies, and Dusty is naked. There is another Talolan here as well, and Alex tries to mindlink with him. Simon doesn’t have a migraine any longer and is very happy.

We look up and see that a huge planet is above us. The Talolan urges Simon to run away and Alex repeats it. We all run and see some strange foliage. Suddenly there is crazy gravity pulling us upward and we try to make for shelter. We see a hollow tree ahead of us but Meaghan trips and falls. Ian and Simon grab onto her and Chet onto them. Chet almost loses his grip but is able to pull us in.

The tree is uprooted and we float upward. We continue going up and after 15 minutes or so there is a bright flash. We seem to go unconscious for a second and after waking up, we feel a weightlessness and we are falling. Alex concentrates and puts up a barrier. We hit the ground and the tree smashes.

We pick ourselves up and Alex tries again to communicate with the alien. He is successful this time and is able to discern that his name is Ser Tomertoni, and that we are somehow in the Crintar system (where the Talolans lived) and we just experienced a conjunction between two of the planets. Ser seems to be reliving the events that he’s already seen, so he may know what to do. He urges the group to go to the “citadel” so we decide to follow his lead.