The episode began right after the battle against the College’s marauders at the burned out farmstead. Minka, Pavlov, and Mason gathered up weapons and supplies from the dead marauders while Axel and Blanco went back to get their Humvee, Miserable Beast, and Zofie. When Axel and Blanco got back to the Humvee they were greeted with a bizarre sight. The entire Humvee was covered in locusts. A visage unsettling by itself, Axel, whose father was a Forest Meister in Germany, knew that these insects were not even native to Europe. Having cleared the bugs off so that they could get inside, keeping some in Axel’s backpack for later consumption, Zofie and the dog Kurwa were found asleep in the back seats, indifferent to the swarm. They then drove the Humvee back to the farmstead.
The group loaded up the spoils of war and decided that they would travel by less traveled country roads to the next town, Ostrzeszow, which was approximately 10km southwest of the farmstead. As the party drew closer to town, Blanco spotted a small garage, still standing but vacant, about a mile outside of town. Driving Miserable Beast inside, they set up a hasty camp.
Mason checked on each member of the group, asking them about how they felt about what had happened at the farmstead. Mason had been in enough combat situations to know that combat affected people differently and he wanted to make sure folks were keeping it together. Most of the group seemed at least ok with what had happened except for Axel, who expressed that although he understood what happened, it deeply sickened him. Minka, on the other hand, merely shrugged; under different circumstances, she might have been the captive woman taken away on the truck. Mason also reluctantly decided to let Pavlov have one of the AKM assault rifles they had acquired.
Axel, Minka, and Pavlov (who had not slept all night) each got some shut eye while Mason and Blanco took watch. Zofie went out and did a little scrounging and found, of all things, a couple boxes of cereal, still intact and edible in an old box under some wood scraps in the garage. While on watch, Blanco was able to determine that the town had at least one spotter, positioned in a church steeple, that definitely provided the town a good field of view.
During their watch, a group of refugees spotted signs of Miserable Beast and approached. They claimed they were starving refugees seeking food and water. Feeling pity for them, Mason gave them one MRE and a bottle of water. In exchange, they told him that they had heard that Russian forces were massing to invade the town of Kepno, located about 10km southeast.
As late afternoon arrived, Mason roused the resting members of the group, and he and Blanco briefed them on what they had observed, as well as the rumors the people had told them about a Russian assault. The group decided that they needed to get more information, so Minka and Pavlov, the only two native Polish members of the party, would go into town and see if they could trade with the locals and get more information. After being made to wait on the road for a very long time by the town’s guards, Minka and Pavlov were finally allowed in. Inside they saw that everyone was armed and that people were working of their own free will, not as slaves. Minka and Pavlov were introduced to the town’s de facto mayor, an older Polish gentleman named Radislov. Pavlov hit it off really well with the old man and Radislov agreed to trade with them. He also stated that he had not heard anything about the Russian’s invading Kepno but he did warn that the College had taken over a number of small farm houses and towns in the area. Minka and Pavlov did not think that Radislov or this town were part of the college but still found it hard to let their guard down. Pavlov left one rifle behind as collateral and a show of good faith and Radislov provided them with a hand cart to help bring their trade supplies back.
Minka and Pavlov returned to the garage and relayed what was learned. The group agreed to trade and that Minka and Pavlov would return with the goods to trade for needed supplies. Then they would have to decide if they wanted to try to get Zofie home; a trip that would see them have to travel east, past Kepno and over the bridge, a bridge Mason was sure would be watched/controlled by the College if it still stood, or to continue south.
Meta-Game
So in this episode the group first had to deal with game mechanics following combat. Luckily, none of the player characters had been critically injured. In fact, the only injury was Axel, who had received a single wound going into the farm house. The group did have a couple folks that had acquired one or more stress points from the combat or sleep deprivation. For most of the characters it was as easy as taking one shift to sleep to get rid of a point of stress or damage (after Axel did some self-first aid). Pavlov, who had not slept the day before and had gained the Sleep Deprived condition and a stress point. Sleeping for him removed the Sleep Deprived but not the point of stress.
The Loot
The group got the following items from the dead Marauders:
6x M-4 Assault Rifles
2x AKM Assault Rifles - Pavlov was given one of these by Mason.
4x full magazines of NATO 5.56 (120 rounds) - Mason grabbed these to replace the ones taken by the sheep farmers.
1x full magazine of 7.62 x 39 ammo - in Pavlov’s AKM
6x M-4 magazines, each half full 5.56 (90 rounds)
2x AKM magazine, each half full 7.62 x 39 (30 rounds)
60 empty shells of various types (5.56 and 7.62)
5x units of ethanol fuel
6x units rations
4x units of water
3x knives - Blanco and Mason each grabbed one
1x RPK light machine gun with 60 rounds of 7.62 x39
In addition, Zofie found 2x Domestic Rations (webetix cereal)