MYZ: The Zone

How did the world end? Some Stalkers and other braggarts say they know what happened. That a great plague swept the world and killed everyone. That the bosses of the Old Age fired their weapons of mass destruction at each other and drowned the world in flames. That the gods among the stars, the Ancients’ overlords, had enough of mankind’s hubris and decided to end it all in fire and brimstone. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s just lies and tall tales. The truth is, no one knows for sure. Except maybe the Elder. And he refuses to talk about it. We learned as children not to ask, he would curse and rave at us every time the subject came up. But I’ve heard him mumble in his sleep. He said that the Ancients ended themselves.
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silverfoxdmt73
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MYZ: The Zone

Post by silverfoxdmt73 » Sat Apr 02, 2022 12:23 pm

The Zone as you know it

From the steep cliffs and trash clogged beaches to the east, the Zone extends for miles north, south and west around the Ark. A once great river winds its way from an unknown source in the west, through what was once a great industrial city and out into the rot contaminated waters. Rumour has it that many bridges once spanned the black waters, though now rumour has it that only one such bridge still stands and that is controlled by either Zone-Ghouls or some other group.

The ruins of many towns are scattered throughout the Zone, with great towering glass and steel structures standing among crumbling buildings, reclaimed by nature with rot mutated forests and swamps now swallowing up all but the largest of these once thriving places.

Now these are places to be feared, inhabited by bands of mutants, monsters and worse – contaminated by the all-consuming Rot. However, they are also places that could be the salvation of your dwindling People and the Ark as they contain remnants of the Old Times, with artefacts to be found within the dangerous sectors around the Ark, artefacts that can help with new projects and keep the People alive long enough perhaps to find Eden, the place that the legends would say could be the salvation of all Mankind.



The map of the Zone, as it is known to the People, can be found here:

https://sites.google.com/view/chronicle ... nd-of-days

Currently it is mostly a blank template, but rumours and legends as well as exploration by the People will fill in some details.

Image

ABOUT THE ROT

“So, you want me to take you into the Zone? You think you have what it takes? You have no idea what it’s like out there. No idea. Let me tell you about the Rot, and we’ll see if you still want to go after that. The good kind of Rot is the kind you can see. Green sludge floating on a still pond. If you get it on your body, it will seep into your wounds, your mouth and eyes. It will slowly break you down.

The bad kind of Rot is invisible. You won’t know it’s there until your bones and muscles ache. If you go too close to the hotspot, your hair will fall off. You puke blood. If you don’t get away quickly, you’re done for. How do I survive in the Zone, you ask? I know where to go, and where not to go. I know what water to drink, what food to eat. And I know how to endure pain. The Rot hurts more than you could imagine. Are you still sure you want to go?”
– Yassan, Stalker
Last edited by silverfoxdmt73 on Wed Jun 01, 2022 9:17 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by silverfoxdmt73 » Thu May 26, 2022 1:39 pm

The time comes for your party to depart and a crowd gathers to mark the first foray outside the Ark since winter’s cold hand gripped the lands around you. Those that are strong enough come to the gate, some standing on the wreck of a flat-bed truck and others waving from the doors of their decrepit homes.

You notice Arkod taking some last moment instructions from Boss Nazin before he stands with the three of you on the threshold of the Ark. Sonya is there too, front and centre of the expectant crowd, her gaze fixed on the four of you as you are but moments away from departing.

“You four hold the future of the Ark and its good People in your hands…” She says in a voice as sharp as it is strangely soothing to the People. “We are in desperate need of food, we need you to be swift and we need you to work together, perhaps like you never have done before.” This last statement was aimed at Arkod and perhaps even Nazin. Sonya has never publicly spoken out against the more militant boss, but she could not have missed his secret whispers to the brutish looking enforcer.

“That you hold our fate in your grasp is true, but that fate is also sealed if you do not return – Return you must, even if it is to report failure. Our knowledge of the lands about the Ark is limited and may well be wrong, so there is no shame in failure, but try at least for we all depend on your efforts.”

With that speech, a couple of grunts unchain the large metal double doors and pull them open with an ear-splitting metallic screech and for the first time in several months, the People get an uninhibited view of the Zone outside the Ark.

As far as you can see, the land is covered in sparse grasses, the occasional hardy plants sticking up among some crumbling rock formations. There is little in the way of lush vegetation among the rolling hills, at least that you can see from the gates of the Ark. Frost still coats some of the ground in the shadowed lee of the rocks and hills, but the sun threatens to melt the last patches of white as you begin your journey.

Danny (@ManWithDoor) give me a Find the Path roll please (8 Die) to see how well you can find your way through this next sector, N5.

I’ll give a more thorough description of this once you’ve made the roll.

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri May 27, 2022 4:33 am

Maybe it's Arkod looming behind him with intentions unknown. Maybe it's Sonya's captivating voice distracting him. Or perhaps it's just the pressure of having the fate of the entire Ark on his shoulders. Regardless of the reason, he struggles to find the best way forward. The sparse grass looks pretty identical to him whichever way they go, so he just picks a direction and hopes for the best.
Well, that's not off to a lovely start. Base Dice (2 Bane, 4, 5, 5) + Skill Dice (1, 3, 5) = Zero Successes! So a Failure.
And I don't want to Push the Roll, since that's inherently 2 Fatigue right off the bat, even if I don't roll any more Banes.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by RorytheRomulan » Fri May 27, 2022 6:28 am

Everything adds its own gravity to the significance of the landmark event playing out in front of Mart: a heroic sendoff! His eyes shine in the sunbeams. He pats Danny confidently on the shoulder, and into the Rot they go!

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by Bohemond » Sat May 28, 2022 4:59 pm

Kwine walks out with the rest of the group, steeling himself to not look nervous in front of the entire Ark. The entire thing felt like being part of a show he didn't sign up for. Even though you clearly did, smartass. The mutant looks at the crowd, hoping to see a few faces of people he liked. He had an hour to visit them, but was busy determining whether or not he needed to trade for screwdrivers or some pots instead. Now there was no time. Keep it together. Two, maybe three miles and back. You can trust Danny and Mart. Just keep your eyes open. As Arkhod has his 'pep talk' with Boss Nazin, Kwine says quietly, "Keep an eye on him. And remember, the bastard can change his skin color to blend in." Once Arkod joins them and the speech is given, Kwine heads out with the group across the austere landscape.

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by silverfoxdmt73 » Mon May 30, 2022 10:02 am

Besides the slowly receding sounds of the Ark, all is still and silent as you follow Danny’s lead towards your destination. The lands around you are undulating, sparsely grassed and largely featureless. The sky too seems to measure the land, a flat grey fog hangs in the air on the periphery of everything, limiting your sight to a few hundred meters and giving everything a dull grey appearance. Every now and then, a low stone wall or a patch of concrete shows through the scrub, a reminder of the Old Times, when as the Elder would have everyone believe, there was a thriving population that enjoyed great freedoms, lived as they pleased and changed the world to fit their dreams.

Now it seems, the people are at the mercy of the land, begging for the scraps that it gives them, if it feels they deserve them.

Perhaps it is the unrelentingly bleak landscape, or the bleak outlook for the People of the Ark, but the journey soon turns into a sombre affair, with Arkod glaring at everyone that dares glance his way. He soon becomes impatient with Danny, repeatedly asking ‘Are we there yet?’ in a flat, menacing voice.

With the fog and the landscape conspiring against you, what seems like an age passes – and without the sun to accurately predict the passage of time – with little idea of your actual progress. The only indication that you aren’t going round in circles comes as you find yourself at the edge of a steep slope that leads down to a black and strangely forbidding looking creek. The smell that emanates from it seems to suggest that the waters are not fresh, and perhaps even contaminated by the rot. As far as the eye can see, the creek runs roughly east to west, cutting right across your path.


The creek is around 5-10 meters below ‘sea level’ and around 5 meters wide. The water looks almost black, with sickly looking reeds and other plants growing along the edge of the water.

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by RorytheRomulan » Tue May 31, 2022 12:00 pm

The journey for Mart slowly sobers him as he sees just how awful everything is outside of the Ark, not to mention Arkod's vexatious impatience and ill temper. It's as if his sense of honor goes against the grain of Mart's, if indeed he have any at all, who can say. And the river? "Never hath I seen deathly brackish waters such as those."

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by ManWithDoor » Tue May 31, 2022 10:36 pm

With his less-than-stellar pathfinding at the outset of this mission, Danny is not in a good mood. He glares at Arkod's repetitive pestering, and refuses to respond to the inane question.

Finding himself on the precipice of the slope leading down into the foul and polluted creek water, he stops in place. If they have to cross to get to their destination then so be it, but it isn't his first choice. "I'm not seeing any way around this. Let's look to see if we can find the narrowest or shallowest part. Maybe even something we can use to keep the water off us. Maybe driftwood or reeds we could place down in a shallow section? I'm open to suggestions."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by RorytheRomulan » Fri Jun 03, 2022 2:11 am

"If we travel further west, perhaps we will find a bridge still intact?"

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Re: MYZ: The Zone

Post by Bohemond » Fri Jun 03, 2022 10:24 pm

"We could look for a log or something that might make a good temporary bridge," Kwine suggests. "Or maybe something we can float across. At least a long stick might help find a shallow spot." Stopped by a creek. Quite the heroes, aren't we? Kwine thinks to himself, stifling a chuckle as he starts to look around.

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