Eye of the Beholder [Afternoon 1]

[Kannon]

[Progressing east: Easy Stealth vs. Challenge, but with a Boost.]

[Kova]

Kova nods and does what he can to adjust Ambrose's and Efren's gear to make them look as much like locals as possible from a distance, exchanging a few pieces of his own for a bit to mix and match. He then picks as close to a common travel route as possible to try to avoid suspicion and hope that any observers eyes pass over them uninterested if they're even noticed. As he's doing so, "Remember, we don't move in a rush around here unless the weather is bad or something makes us, but we don't like hanging out in the frozen weather if unnecessary. Nice and easy. Move with purpose, not with urgency."

Stealth [Cunning] vs Easy with Challenge and Boost, "Patience and focus reveal openings": 2eP+1eB+1eC 2 successes, 1 advantage

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded and concurred with both Ambrose and Kova’s guidance.

His training was in special operations… How do conduct them and prevent them. He tried to express what the enemy might have in store for them, but his words didn’t quite come out right…

Leadership was often shown rather than said, however… and he did his best to ensure he set the proper example.


——————

D1 Eye, leadership, Roots: 2eP+2eA+1eB+2eD 0 successes, 2 advantage, 2 Triumph


Pretty silly roll. I suppose we bank the triumphs for the moment unless Kannon has a good idea for their use. No free successes for my compatriots.


D1 Eye, Stealth, Roots: 1eA+1eP+1eB+1eC 1 success, 2 advantage



Pass the stealth roll.

Player pool: 12 (Was it capped at 10?), 2 Triumphs
GM pool: 1

[Kannon]

[Two Triumphs: Efren's leadership gives one other player a single 'Try Harder' option: they may re-roll one bad future roll.]

[Please keep track of the pool.]

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose nodded to Kova in appreciation while his gear was adjusted in local fashion. Setting out, he followed Kova and Efren's lead. While he was nominally the ranking officer on the ground, his experience was more suited to the birds' eye view from a thopter or amongst the wounded in the aftermath. Efren's tactical expertise on the ground could not be denied.

The two examples ahead of him and his natural dexterity allowed him to move calmly and smoothly through the snow.

-----
D1, EotB, Stealth: 4eA+1eB+1eC 4 successes, 4 advantage

Player 16 Advantage, GM 1 Threat

[Bernard Martikova]

Bern wasn't the most sneaky sort of fellow. He knew how to get out of work on the farm, but that was for other reasons. Following Kova's direction, he attempted to follow thru with it, but it was obvious he was never cut to be a tracker or a hunter.

~~
Sneaky Guy with a shotgun... (Using 4 banked advantages for two boosts)

Net Successes: -1; Net Advantages: 1

"Try Harder" not to get caught, says the bossman. (Reroll)

Net Successes: 0; Net Advantages: 2

Try harder used with permission...better than a despair, I guess.

[Kannon]

Whether their mishaps on the way were consequential, immediately or as a ticking bomb, it was hard to tell while trying to negotiate an increasingly difficult pathway forward. They were skiing at the verge of a canyon; Efren's chosen pathway had saved them from being bogged down in the labyrinthine passages below, amid non-compacted snow, and then likely a climb.

Harkonnen architecture didn't come into view just yet; for that they would have to become even bolder in their recon, and risk a night in the open. Temperatures had already started dropping, and even their thermal wear could not stop the environment from draining their body heat indefinitely.

However, they were about to converge on where another defunct eye should be.

[Efren Lanville]

“It’s starting to get cold… We may want to get what we can and make our way back to relative warmth.” Efren offered.

[Kova]

Kova had not been thinking about the temperature. He was definitely more acclimated, so he appreciated the warning from Efren. "There was another eye near here? Do you wish to try to make it there, then rush somewhere warmer after? Would it be possible to collect the information from it and discuss it elsewhere?" He wasn't particularly familiar with the eye technology, so he didn't know for sure.

[Kannon]

[Since waiting for others takes forever... to look for the eye, Survival or Computation at Average w/Challenge (terrain) and w/ Setback (worsening conditions)]

[Efren Lanville]

Efren utilized his training to great effect and helped locate the eye…

—————

D1 Eye II, Roots Statement, 10 adv for bonuses,: 2eP+1eA+5eB+1eD+1eC+1eS 4 successes, 1 Triumph


Triumph to help with data retention/improved quality?

Player pool: 8
GM pool: 1

[Kannon]

Not only did he locate the eye, he already knew how to retrieve its content. This time, it was a sound recording, one they could expect from how Halleck had managed to his message across the stars. But this one, for whatever reason, apparently recorded a bit more...

---

Low, throaty voice, recognisable as Gurney Halleck.

"Tell the Duke that I never made it to Kaitain and was delayed on Harmothep! Captured by Harkonnens! I am currrently being held on Lankiveil! Couldn't make it back to Caladan!"

The recording continued, however with a cruel, booming laughter of another person.

"Look at this foolish man, Rabban - thinking someone friendly will hear his transmission! He has thrown his message into the void. Do you presume a local fur-whale ship will receive your signal? You can shout and scream but no-one will hear."

After a pause.

"Come join us for a meal before my nephew continues your interrogation session. I must go back to Arrakis now, but I have given Rabban clear instructions. You are in good hands."

Gurney's voice.

"Supper before torture? To prove you are fine hosts?"

The booming one.

"Excellent hosts! And we want you to keep up your strength for your next session when my nephew plays with you a bit more. After that I have a more imagi..."

---

And this appeared to be all.

[Efren Lanville]

Efren looked around to the other members of the team. He thought of his friends that he knew were bound for Harmothep for a brief moment. Who could delay and capture Gurney on Harmothep?

All of that was rather concerning… and not knowing when it was recorded made the immediacy of their mission here all the more apparent to Efren.

“We should see what else this eye has for us… and contact the commander from as safe a location as we can manage.”

Efren looked around again, “Shall we head back to the Eyrie?”

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Hearing Gurney's message caused a pang in Ambrose's heart as he thought of what Gurney had gone through and was going through in service to the Duke. When the other voice came on, it brought on a much more visceral reaction. The only upside to their arrogance and sadism, toying with Gurney, was it gave his squad more time to enact a rescue. First they needed more information. Whatever they could pass on the Hawat would increase their chances at success.

"Let me see that. We'll see what else it can tell us."

Focusing on what they could do rather than worrying about what they couldn't, Ambrose analyzed the eye to try and find when the signal had been received and maybe even where it had been relayed from. Any little details to add to Hawat's projections.

-----
D1, EotB, Mechanics , Eye#2, 4adv for boosts: 2eP+2eA+2eB+1eC+1eD+1eS 2 successes, 3 advantage


Player pool: 7
GM pool: 1

[Kannon]

In terms of raw content, that was it. This seemed to be the mother eye, however, the one which received the original transmission before it passed it over in shredded forms to other eyes, of which one eventually piggybacked the heighliner comms and reached Hawat. This recording was 22 days old. The source of the signal was traceable to the designates roughly aligning with the Slaughterhouse or its vicinity.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

"This at least partly confirms what we were thinking. But you are right, we need somewhere more secure before we get too far into it." Ambrose looks across the landscape, "I feel too exposed out here."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded, “Let’s head out then.”

[Kova]

"Back to the Eyrie," Kova says, plotting out the quickest course he can in his mind. It would be longer and slower in the dark, but they'd get there.

[Kannon]

/scene!