Losing the fight to stay awake after her first drink of wasteland whiskey, Gwendy doesn't notice her host sneak out into the darkness outside of the fortified tree house.

Following Louise we discover that this is a clandestine meeting between old comrades: both of them being ex-mercenaries of an outfit called 'The Company'. Now settled in the Bluffs, both have been exchanging goods and information for their mutual benefit.

As the two catch up it becomes apparent that their arrangement will be ended by Louise's promise to accompany Gwendy when she leaves the area. This statement causes the otherwise stalwart Paul Nakano to breakdown letting slip a dark secret: For the last two years the farmer has been feeding the intelligence Louise gathers about travelers to a cult of kidnapping Creeps in exchange for the safety of his own family.

Disgusted and betrayed by her old friend's actions, Louise admonishes him with a warning to not go near her home while she's gone under pain of death, exiting the area without so much as a backward glance. A horned spectre with bright glassy eyes, a flitting shadow in the trees of the glade, she returns to her home and then to bed without anyone the wiser.

@ Travel East to Map Cell#9 -> -1 Supply (noted)
d: BLOCKER (Hunted 19-20) 1d20=8 -> MISS 
-> Encounter Threat range increased to 18-20
d: Inhabitants 1d20=20 -> Settlement 
d: Reputation 1d20=4 -> Hostile 
d: Icon 1d20=18 -> Super Duper Mart (Regional HQ)
d: Truth 1d20=8 -> Underground
=> The eastern highway curves towards a vast, blasted ruin, and on its edge squats the only clearly definable landmark amongst the wreckage--the battered hulk of the Super Duper Mart Regional HQ. It looms above a large collector lane guiding traffic onto a descending turnpike into tunnels under the building. It is a vast network of parking garages, warehouses & facilities, now become cantons of a subterranean settlement known as Lot

=> Founded by Ghouls fleeing persecution, it has a reputation as being a place friendly to mutants, the deformed and irradiated. 

=> It has recently come under control of a coalition of Ghouls calling themselves the Management (MGMT) who have designed a radioactive toll gauntlet at the entrance, requiring any who pass to become dangerously irradiated or purchase RAD-X, a chem they have a large supply of and no use for

@ Encounter Generation
d: Settlement Encounter 1d20=18 -> Charity (generate NPC)
=> what draws you to this unfortunate person? Why are they down on their luck?

Generate NPC (p.178)
d: Faction 1d20=5 -> Enclave
d: Name -> Ira Mishken
d: Age 1d20= -> Middle-aged
d: Demeanor 1d20=10 1d20=18 -> Peaceful 
d: Distinctive Features 2d20=14,17 -> Limited edition bottle caps, Wild-eyed
d: Profession 1d20=18 -> Survivor
d: Secret 1d20=6 -> has done everything in accordance with complex plan
d: Truth 1d20=17 -> Ruthless, they'll do anything it takes for their own ends
=> They scrape a meager existence in the alleys and gaps of the city cantons, trading their collection of limited edition bottle caps for food, chems and protection

=> Secret: Unbeknownst to anyone in Lot, Mishken has ended up where he is by the careful machinations of the Enclave hoping to deposit an agent in the middle of 'Ghoul Central' to suss out fortifications, weaknesses and a rough census

=> It is unclear if he is still on-mission, or has succumbed to the subtle poisons, rads and drugs that flow throughout the city

=> Very likely knows where advanced radio equipment can be found, but why would they tell you? What can you offer to them in trade?

=> Secret: They have a subdermal Fate-Com Bio Monitor programmed to send a signal to the Enclave if they are killed or permanently incapacitated.

=> If Ira isn't encountered outside of Lot, he will be found inside the city itself

A Little Birdy

Gwendy opens her eyes to her second day in the Wasteland and is greeted by an overlapping array of calendar babes plastered to Louise's ceiling. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she automatically grabs up her eyeglasses from a stool nearby. Did she put them there last night? Can't remember taking them off, or much at all after her second cap of whiskey.

?: Is Louise present when Gwendy wakes up?
d: Likely (1-5 No) 1D20=3 -> No 
=> Her host is not in the one-room dwelling when she rises

She blinks a few times. Nothing stirs save a fly at the far end of the room. The perforated space is cut diagonally by dusty beams of light and all around the quiet hush of Blood Bay, the start-stop buzz of little wings, the rustle of the silvery tree. Gwendy hopes it is a sign of trust that she's been left alone in the secretive woman's personal space.

Rising from the bed she makes sure her knives and other small valuables are still inside the trusty Dad-Jacket and Vault Tek backpack. The hatch that heads down and out of the room is wide open, so she carefully lowers her bottom half onto the steps nailed into the trunk of the tree.

Scene Projection (Tarot)
d: 3 Card Draw -> King of Pentacles, Eight of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles

=> King of Pentacles: Abundance, Prosperity, Protection. Gwendy and Louise set out further east along the old Highway to avoid crossing near The Nest. They are both optimistic about the partnership: Gwendy because she won't be alone in the wilds outside of the vault, and Louise because she can use her well earned skills to keep someone safe as well as honour her debt. With Paul and her going separate ways, Gwendy is now her only social connection in an otherwise lonely life.

=> Eight of Pentacles: Both women have hunting and trapping skills but Louise's expertise reaches a level of near mastery. Not since her father Nathan trapped for Fort 73 has such a singular talent for hunting been in the orbit of Gwendy's life. Louise is very happy to continue the young vault dweller's education and she finds G to be an eager student with a talent for learning, far better than any of the mercs or savengers she's associated with in past decades.

=> Five of Pentacles: Initially jubilant that they are heading towards a city with other people in it, Gwendy is a little disapointed to discover the nature of their destination: Lot is an anarchic subteranean city home to mutants, ghouls and other detestibles that are often hostile to smooth-skins. They treat her with suspicion and loathing before they even entering the place. All who enter Lot must pass through a radioactive gauntlet sure to leave lasting damage, or pay a toll

An odd, almost earthy smoke smell enters her nostrils as she descends onto the branch directly below the can. It doesn't smell like burning oil, or that one time Holden caused a minor electrical fire in the server room when he mixed-up the voltages going into the stack... Is the tree itself on fire?

Louise: "Mornin'. Thought I'd take in the view for a bit before we shove off. You sleep well?"

Gwendy spots the hunter sitting on a small branch just above her, wrapped in her cloak and helmet, cigarette in hand. Of course! caravans and traders living in and around Fort 73 had tobacco on occasion but the council wouldn't allow anyone to take it into the vault. Her folks simply said that it was a bad habit and an expensive one at that. Louise seems to be enjoying it.

Gwendy: "Oh, yes thank you. Head feels a bit thick and I'm thirsty as heck, but I was out cold the whole night."

Louise: "You held your own pretty well, a good sign," She says, stubbing the hand-rolled smoke out on the wood of the tree and letting the small bit of burned garbage fall. "I figure we hit the road for a few hours before worrying about breakfast. I'm all packed so once you get your things we'll ditch this shit plantation."

Gwendy: "You're not sad to be leaving your home?"

With a scoff Louise drops deftly down to Gwendy's level, grabbing up a hand-made leather sack and a long object wrapped in the sheet she slept under--the scoped Deadeye rifle. Why the fuck would she be sad to leave this coffin-in-a-tree? It's just a place to sleep and shoot from, as crappy as any other piss pot in this god-damned wasteland and if she believed she was never coming back it would already be on fire. She tilts her head so Gwendy's face is visible through the mask's right eyehole, about to say as much when the expression on the vault dweller's face makes her hold her tongue.

Louise: "No, it's about time I made some moves. Getting too comfortable lately, time to make a change."

Gwendy: (smiling brightly) "That's the spirit! I like to think I'd have left home now too--if my parents weren't missing, that is."

Louise: "Now THAT'S the dumbest thing you've said so far," she jibes, tucking the rifle behind her arm straps and pulling them tighter. "Clean water, clean food, clean people... Clean beds. Nothing top side is clean, you just don't ken it yet."

The two of them finish their preparations and make ready to leave for good, Gwendy making sure she's got everything she brought (minus one Yao Guai head) and Louise finalizing the remaining esoteric traps scattered all around her treehouse.

Gwendy: "Should I unstrap the ladder?"

Louise: "Nah nah, we'll go down the secret way, come around this part of the trunk and feel for a hand-hold, then one for your foot..."

TOLD ME SO

The two women leave the glade atop the bluffs heading south east, not far from the route Gwendy took yesterday while fleeing the gaze of the four Creeps from The Nest. They tramp through the thick yellow-brown grasses and low scrubby trees.

No sign of the 'campers' in that direction today, Gwendy thinks, straining to see across the rolling hills that slop downward towards the bay. She had asked Louise what direction they should strike out while looking for a radio transmitter and was relieved when the hunter was reluctant to walk the highway west. Sure there were orderly patches of fenced in farm land visible at their elevation, which was promising, but the wide four-lane road nearly rolled through the home of Rebecca and the other Creeps... Remembering the unfriendly way they suggested her visiting was inevitable made her shiver despite the rising sun, so they began east with the rumour of a city sized settlement beyond the horizon.

Along the way Gwendy tries her best to bring the hunter out of her shell and keep the trek interesting with a bit of conversation. It is difficult at first as she seems to have nothing interesting to say to Louise that the deceptively young woman hasn't already heard, but the good weather and quiet road keep them both in high spirits, each glad to no longer be alone.

The Deadeye rifle eventually emerges from its impromptu sheath and is used to spot obstacles further down the highway as their feet take them away from the familiarity of The Bluffs. It looks huge in Louise's arms, but she handles it with a practiced care. Gwendy does what she's told whenever a whispered order to leave the blacktop for the bushes is made, trusting experience over enthusiasm and the ex-merc looks pleased when they break for a rest and she removes her Deathclaw skull.

Louise: "We're making good time to Lot," she says, pushing a mouthful of water from a water skin hung under her cloak. "Maybe another 5 hours."

Gwendy: "Is Lot really big? I thought every big city was destroyed when the bombs fell."

Louise: "Mostly they were, yeah, but this one came later. I've never been there but caravans come from it every forty days or so. Usually have good shit too, technical parts and the like. Someone there might be able to find your signal."

It isn't useful to speculate, but Gwendy wonders if this is the direction her parents came five years ago. Did they settle in Lot after finding whatever it was they were looking for? If so, why didn't they send word to Vault 73, to her?

Louise: "Hey, time to quit day dreaming, we should get on with it," she says, starting back for the road.

The rest of the day is clocked by the stamping of their shoes on the crumbled old road, avoiding rusted wrecks and keeping their eyes open for game or other travellers. At one point Gwendy spots a rad-deer nosing through a ditch at almost a half a kilometre away, prompting Louise to produce her rifle and look down the scope but she refrains from taking the shot. "Bad thread, not the right number of legs," she says, but is impressed by the accurate spotting. They talk hunting, trapping and mercenary work the rest of the afternoon well into twilight until the silver lines of a huge structure appear where the curves of the highway angle into a ragged horizon: Lot.

TOLL 2 LOT

Gwendy is surprised to discover as they approach that the city is below ground: poorly painted signs lead the way, proclaiming that Lot is 'ONE FLOOR ABOVE HELL'. A mural on the concrete banks of the tunnel informs them that 'GHOULS RULE' the garages, storage chambers and facilities under the ruin. Closer to the maw Gwendy reads 'SUPER DUPER MART Regional HQ' on the huge, peeling road signs of the ancient Americans. They sure didn't build anything small when they were capable of scrapping the sky, it seems.

Burning bins and ropes of electric lights usher them towards a cavernous entrance that swallows the four lane highway, but it is a man-made funnel of stacked yellow barrels that slows Louise to a walk, a small hand reaching out to grab Gwendy's arm.

Louise: "Wait, wait, none of the traders ever mentioned stacks of barrels. These must be new."

Gwendy squints at the assemblage nearly blocking the way into the city. She thinks she sees other travellers talking with what look like armed guards, but it's hard to tell at this distance.

@ Gwendy tries to apprehend the situation at the mouth of the tunnel to Lot
d: (PER)SURVIVAL v (TN=8) Dif=1 2D20=1,18 -> SUCCESS + CRITICAL x2
-> +1 AP (5/5)
=> Oh yeah they're definitely arguing about something

It looks like three armed men just inside the lip of the tunnel arguing with two wastelanders and a dog. Gwendy keeps her eyes on apparent leader of the guards as they stroll down the sweeping off-ramp.

?: Does the interaction remain peaceful?
d: 50/50 (1-10 No) 2D20v=13,10 -> No
=> Their shouts begin to reach her ears as the argument becomes violent

The larger of the two wastelanders raises their arm to point directly in the lead guard's face, shouting loud enough that both travellers catch the word "Robbery!" Both of the other two guards raise rifles and take aim at the wastelanders, causing their dog to begin to frantically bark and snarl. The second person--a woman?--shrieks something short, and reaches out to grab ahold of the dog's shoulders. Gwendy winces and braces for the brutal violence she knows is always possible these days.

?: Do the guards fire upon the wastelanders?
d: Likely (1-5 No) 1D20=2 -> No
=> No shots are fired, but there is violence

The yelling man darts in front of the woman and dog as a guard raises their rifle as if to fire. The leader of the guards uses this as an opportunity to raise his hand--Gwendy guesses the item he's holding is a pistol--and cracks it against the man's head, dropping him to the ground. The woman cries out a second time and reaches out to her companion, but all of her strength is occupied with keeping their dog from lunging out of her grasp.

The two women are close enough now to hear crying on the breeze, and watch as the gunmen return to their posts closer to the entrance of the tunnel, sitting atop the barrels and watching.

The young vault dweller isn't conscious of her pace and finds herself jogging to the injured man's side: he looks like he needs help! It is only the growling of the dog that keeps her from getting any closer.

Gwendy: "Sir? Sir, are you alright? Do you need medical attention?" she asks, her vault-educated emergency aid training kicking her into a well rehearsed cadence. "You may have suffered a concussion, can you tell me your name?"

?: Does the injured man cooperate with the assistance?
d: 50/50 (1-10 No) 2D20v=10,16 -> No
=> He looks hurt and angry

Injured Man: "Keep your fuckin' shittin' hands off me or I'll sic the dog on you," he says, swiping an arm through the air in Gwendy's direction. "I'll tell 'em to get--to kill you--fuckin' assholes..."

@ Gwendy tries to assess the man's injury without getting in arms reach
d: (INT)MEDICINE v (TN=7) Dif=2 2D20=18,13 -> MISS
=> He already has so many cuts and bruises...

Up close the pair and their dog are very ragged. They're covered with dusty brown-grey clothes made from leather, rope and the barest tatters of Old World fibre, each sporting at least three or four injuries prior to their encounter with Lot's Finest. With her limited medical knowledge Gwendy has no idea where to begin treatment. The scenarios they practiced in Vault 73 were specific workplace injuries, or heart attack or rad-nado drills and Nurse Juanita always told them to "Intercom for the Doctor if you don't know what to do."

Gwendy: "Well, umm, try and keep your nose elevated and uhh, drink plenty of water..." She trails off, catching the beaten, watchful look in the woman's eyes.

Dirty Woman: "Whoever you are you'd better keep away. We don't have anything you want, we can't even pay the toll."

Gwendy: "Oh, I don't want anything from you, really. I just wanted to help your friend," she says, trying to convince them to let her. People are so distrusting nowadays, can't they recognize a little kindness? Maybe they can help each other.

@ Gwendy tries to convince the pair to let her help them
d: (CHA)SPEECH(T) v (TN=9) Dif=2 2D20=20,10 -> MISS + COMPLICATION 
-> The dog in the woman's grasp struggles free and threatens G
=> They don't believe her

Maybe the dog fought itself free, or maybe the woman on the pavement simply stopped fighting it. Either way, the mongrel scratches at the blacktop and moves closer to Gwendy, snapping its foamy jaws and barking wildly.

Move: DE-ESCALATE
@ Gwendy attempts to placate the dog and diffuse its aggression
d: (CHA)SPEECH (T) v (TN=9) Dif=2 2D20=11,2 -> HIT x2 (Tag Skill)
=> Gwendy makes herself less threatening, crouching down like the other lady and reaching into the side pocket of her pack.

Gwendy: "Hey now mutt-mutt, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt your family, see?"

She takes the risk and tries something she saw in a film from the vault library about pre-war domestic animals, producing a scrap of meat from her pack of supplies. The scent catches on the breeze and the dog ceases to bark, foamy drool falling to the road. She tosses the morsel and it is caught deftly between its jaws.

After it swallows the meat it doesn't resume barking or growling.

Gwendy: "Yah you're not so bad huh? Just a good err.. boy?"

Dirty Woman: (standing slowly, cautiously) "Boy. His name's Bite. I'm Sara, that's Corduroy."

Gwendy: "I'm Gwendolyn but everyone calls me Gwendy. This is--uhh.. Where..?" Turning about to introduce Louise, Gwendy is somewhat stymied to see that the diminutive hunter is not beside her or anywhere in sight.

Corduroy: (on the ground, holding his hand to a bloody smear at his right temple) "The fuck do you want, lady? One of those looky-loos? Just like to watch people get messed up? We don't need your help."

Gwendy: "My friend and I were going to try and get into the city. I saw the guards hit you and just thought..."

Sara: "The Management won't let anyone in without paying a toll. We couldn't afford it, and Cord got angry. If you want to try go ahead, but if you can't buy their RAD-X the barrels will kill you."

So that's it: the people running Lot are extorting non-ghouls who want to get in by forcing them to buy their chemical protection. Looking at the tunnel Gwendy sees the trio relaxing in front of the toxic gauntlet, wisps of cigarette smoke curling from their mouths and noses. All of them are men, all are Ghouls, and each one is well-kept and well armed. She tries not to stare at them, but they're very different than the odd and lonely ones that occasionally came to Fort 73 for trading.

When she looks back at the duo and their dog, Sara has pulled Corduroy to his feet and begun to guide him to the ramshackle gathering under the turn-pike. Cooking fires and tents squat there in loose, distrusting coagulations and she sees a few people leaning against pocked concrete covered in centuries of dirt and graffiti. Bare mattresses cradle bundles of cloth, skin, bones. For the first time in her life Gwendy perceives the real poverty that most of the living inhabitants of this ruined world suffer through and it causes a sore pang in her heart. The humble Corner home in 73 would seem to be a palace by comparison to this squalor.

DOWN THE HATCH

The young vault dweller hesitates for a moment, then musters up her guts, turns and begins to slowly walk towards the entrance of the tunnel, conscious of the slow tick-tick-tick of her PipBoy's geiger counter. When she gets within 20 metres of the entrance and the ticking's speed increases to a yellow-warning level, the lead MGMT Guard peels away from his perch and strolls languidly towards her, pistol in hand.

Move: APPROACH (current state: Safe)
@ Gwendy approaches the MGMT Guard and waves her hand in greeting
d: (CHA)SPEECH(T) v (TN=9) Dif=1 2D20=6,11 -> HIT
-> SAFE situation is now potentially DANGEROUS
=> Tension might be high, but nerves are held. For now

Gwendy: (smiling, waving) "Hello there, I'm Gwendy, nice to meet you."

MGMT Guard: "What's up, fuck-face."

Gwendy: "Uhh, I heard I have to talk to you if I want to get into the city?"

MGMT Guard: (leaning his head back and looking over G's shoulder) "You and your kid: four doses minimum, way in and way back," He tells Gwendy, the equivalent of 4 stacks of caps.

Patting the pockets of her jacket and vault suit, Gwendy discovers that she does not possess this sum. She left home with nothing but her rations, equipment and whatever wits she gained in school or with her parents and Holden. She knows from the barter in Fort 73 that 4 stacks is a handsome some of money and not particularly easy to come by. That explains the poor squatters under the ramp... She is just about to ask what the guard meant about her kid when a throat clears beside her and she is startled to discover Louise at her right, the Deadeye carefully bundled away and strapped across her back.

Louise: (ahem) "I'm a mute-y, not a kid. 2 doses for my friend and I'll misplace this bottle of Mackenzie's Finest somewhere in the region of your pocket," She says quietly, producing a decently sized bottle of amber liquid from somewhere inside her cloak.

?: Does the guard aquiesce to the trade?
d: Unlikely (1-15 No) 2D20^=9,16 -> Yes
=> Looks like a decent trade

The guard's destroyed, split, shiny AND dry lips roll around over his teeth while he considers the offer. Gwendy is unsure where the two stacks of caps are going to come from if this guy actually accepts and spends the moment worrying about retaliation when it becomes obvious that she's broke.

Gwendy (under her breath to Louise) "I don't have that kind of money."

Louise: (also under her breath) "Shush."

MGMT Guard: "Fuck it. I was gettin' thirsty anyway--HEY BRACKENMIRE GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

One of the side-thugs hobbles up behind the guard with a lunchbox side-slung as a satchel under his arm. Gwendy notices this Ghoul is dressed similarly: Relatively clean but old looking jeans, a dark fabric jacket under a black flack vest covered in ammo clips and shotgun shells. He's armed with a pistol and a long gun she doesn't recognize.

MGMT Guard #2 aka Brackenmire: (wheezing) "Ayah Partino, how many doses?"

MGMT Guard #1 aka Partino: "Two for the blue-berry here," He says, turning back to Louise and Gwendy. "Blue-berries, remember those?"

Both of the two petitioning women slowly shake their heads. What?

Partino: (grinning) "Small, blue, delicious... great in pancakes."

Brackenmire: (rooting around in the lunchbox) "I was more of a strawberry man myself."

Partino: "Shut up idiot, no one ever ate strawberries in pancakes."

The Ghoul named Brackenmire extends a thick, corpse-like claw towards Gwendy and drops two large orange pills into her cupped hands. His eyes are a startling green colour against a dark bloody sclera, glowing faintly. They're sort of beautiful and she'd say so if she wasn't freaked out by the armament on display.

Partino snatches Louise's whiskey and tucks it behind the neck of his flack vest without so much as a thank you, leering at the two of them while the hunter picks the required number of caps from a cloth bag. They fall into Brackenmire's lunchbox with a tinny rattle.

Partino: "Thanks for that, shit-heads. Now listen up: Lot is run by the Management now and anything we say goes, got that? Some asshole in a vest like mine walks up to you and tells you to act like a chicken? You better be clucking and laying eggs fuckin' quick. Have fun, be safe and spend all your caps on drugs. That's what I'd do."

They leave both Ghouls chuckling to themselves at the entrance and begin towards it, stopping long enough for Gwendy to dry-swallow one of the large pills amid the loud clicking of her PipBoy's rad warning system.

Gwendy: (coughing and clearing her throat) "Are you sure about this, Louise? You can take the other pill, we can probably find others inside." She says, holding the other pill out to the other woman.

?: Does Louise agree with Gwendy? Does she accept the pill?
d: Unlikely (1-15 No) 2D20^=3,17 -> Yes
=> Reluctantly she accepts the pill

Sighing, the hunter and accepts the pill when her companion offers it, tipping her bone helmet back and placing it in her mouth.

Louise: (swallowing the chem) "I've taken my share of rads and I'm almost over the hill so it barely matters, but this is risky for you, Gee. Could be bad inside, you might catch a life-ending dose just trying to get out."

She certainly hopes not, but Gwendy is unsure of herself as they pass between the rows of ancient, waste filled barrels. Are they doing the right thing? Is this even the right direction? A city like Lot must have smart people in it, and functioning technology that can help her track down the signal. If she could just figure out where the transmission was being broadcast from she's sure she'll find her folks. Or at least what happened to them. It's possible, right?

As the entrance to the tunnel passes over their heads she can't shake the feeling of being in some creature's open mouth and sliding down its throat.

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