Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

Wbweather · Post by **Wbweather** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:07 am

Monday, August 8th, 2016

Gencon. The ultimate destination for gamers. The Mecca to which 60,000 men and women clad in tee shirts (and often more elaborate costumes) make their annual pilgrimage. You were there. You came, stood in line, forked over handfuls of cash in exchange for bright boxes of cardboard and plastic treasure. You played games and occasionally slept. It was all you expected it to be and more. Now it is over.

But while Gencon has ended, your 10 day holiday of gaming is just reaching the zenith of its excellence. Now you and seven friends are extending the experience. Yes Gencon may be over, but Fellowship of the Dice Con is just now beginning. Somehow, someone came up with the idea of taking the celebration west, to Colorado. You rented a cabin in the mountains near Estes Park. You even rented an RV so that you could travel in style. You begged and pleaded with spouses and work supervisors for just another week away from your daily responsibilities. You rolled for all the persuasion you had and came up with a success.

The RV pulled out of Indiana late Sunday afternoon. You spent the night in Saint Louis and Monday morning continued your trek along that pulsing, westward artery across the central plains, I-70. If all goes well, you should be able to push hard and get to your destination by 9:30 pm. Then again, things seldom goes as expected and after getting a later start than expected (perhaps some of you should not have been celebrating so exuberantly last night), it seems Bill (Previously known only as Wbweather to most of you) announces that he has to stop off at his house for just a few minutes just west of Kansas City. That adds another half hour and at that point you all decide to go ahead and grab lunch. It is nearly 2:00 when you finally get back on the road. Now you will be luck to arrive by midnight. Nevertheless, you still are in fairly decent moods for the most part, although some of you are beginning to show a little irritation.

You take turns at the wheel for the next few hours and soon you are gaining a little time taking advantage of the 75 mph speed limit across Kansas. Truth be told, some drivers may be pushing the speed a little beyond the legal limit, but for the most part once you pass Topeka, the highway patrol seems to be pleasantly absent.

It is now late afternoon. There is some discussion of dinner. Out here, towns appear to be few and far between. Most of the available dining establishments appear to be attached to truck stops. The gas tank is down to a quarter tank and in this beast that means you are going to need to fill up both the RV and your stomachs soon.

The vehicle is filled with casual conversation. A few of your comrades are playing a card game on the small table in the middle of the RV. Music plays in the background. You check your phone. It is now 5:53 pm.

Suddenly the casual atmosphere is shattered by the sudden and unexpected jolt of profanity from Jason (Tetnak) who has been driving for the last few hours. You suddenly feel inertia trying to pry you from your seats as the RV begin to swerve.

The two in the front seat (Tet and Bill) see a red Toyota Camry leave the eastbound lane and bounce across the median of the interstate. It enters the westbound half of the highway and appears to be coming straight at you.

Those in the back don't have time to see what is coming. Their only warning is Tet's exclamation and the sudden shift of the RV.

WalterPeck · Post by **WalterPeck** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 5:56 am

Mike, a.k.a. WalterPeck, had enjoyed his first GenCon. The games had been fun, the FotD'ers enjoyable, and the cosplay hilarious and terrible in equal measure. He marveled at the painted miniatures and people's obsession with Summer Glau. He had said, "I just don't get it about her." to a thousand people and no one gave him a satisfactory answer as to why she was "hot". Maybe like Danny Glover he was just too old for that shit.

With GenCon over Mike knew he had cashed in all of his marital favors by getting more vacation time in Colorado. His wife Emily had been left to run the family business alone while the owners (his mother and father in law) were in Sturgis for 2 weeks at the motorcycle rally. Emily would be stressed to the max by the time he returned but the chances of him doing something like this again were near zero now that they were having a second child. Plus, Mike was certain he was running for County Supervisor in a couple years so that added to the unlikelihood of another grand dude adventure.

Sitting in the back of the RV Mike had been texting Emily. The routine was dinner, Simpsons, shower, then stories before bed and Mike wanted to get in his good night and I love yous before it was too late. Setting the phone down Mike jerked his head up as Jason began to swear. Instinctively, Mike grabbed the side of the couch arm and braced as the RV swerved. Mike didn't holler. It wouldn't help. He just pushed his body into the couch with his legs. With one hand grabbing the couch arm and the other hand gripping the back of the couch Mike rode out the RV's sudden jerking.

Fucking asshole was the only thing Mike could think about the oncoming driver.

Olligarchy · Post by **Olligarchy** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:13 am

Olli aka Olligarchy was napping on one of the rear seats, having had a rough ride from the UK with a plane, and then having jumped right into Gencon for the first time in his life. As such he'd ran around trying to see and do everything, though had kept well away from the cosplayers and 'animu' characters that seemed to swarm every Geeky gathering the world over. Not only was the jet lag killing him, the added exertion from rushing about wasn't exactly helping.

Whilst the original plan had been to see the Gencon in order to say hello to the fine folks from FotD, a few too many beers and good company had convinced Olli he might as well get another week off and spend some of those days off he'd been hoarding for a few years now. It had been a simple matter of messaging Angel, his fiancee to rebook her flight from Nice back to Belfast a bit later so she too could enjoy the sunshine with her 'BFF' whilst the spouse was off throwing beers and drinking dice.

Or was that the other way around?

Olli was in a half-droned off state when the car jerked seemingly off the road, and smashed his face into the seat in front of him with a growled,"Fucking hell."

Blubbo_Baggins · Post by **Blubbo_Baggins** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:43 pm

Chris (B.B.) had never been to Gencon, and though he had seen many pictures and talked to a good friend who had been a regular at the con for 10 years, he was glad to be in the roomy RV, resetting from the sensory overload.

Never one to shirk a good social moment, Chris had joined in the card game, and was just about to pull a gigantic pile of chips to his side (the flop had given him a straight flush), when Jason suddenly swerved. All he could think about was how all the chips were going everywhere, and mixed, and now no one would know what his winnings would have been.

Thankfully, he loved roller coasters and the sudden movements never seemed to disorient him. /The more g-force, the better./

Wbweather · Post by **Wbweather** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:46 pm

Blubbo_Baggins · Post by **Blubbo_Baggins** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:37 pm

godmoney · Post by **godmoney** » Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:56 pm

Jeff (godmoney) is sitting at the table pushing chips back and forth wondering how the dealer keeps winning? Having not been to Gencon for about a decade, the sheer size of what it had become had been amazing. The good tables and the bad tables all mixing together in a haze of sleep deprived euphoria. Meeting old buddies and making new friends is all part of the process. The high point of the weekend had been the L5R interactive, the culmination of the Nightmare Wars campaign, so inspired by that Jeff finally broke down and purchased a katana from some booth that was selling all kinds of blades and armor bits.

Meeting up with other players from FotD was just happenstance for him, and he finagled an invite to come along. A couple of calls later (I love you so much honey!!! and Will you remember to call in sick for me for a couple of days? Thanks) he was moving his bags from his friends car to the RV.

With his back to the front of the RV all Jeff felt was the RV swerve to the side, pushing him into the wall side of the booth he was sitting in. "What the heck?" is about all he gets out before...

Post by **TetNak** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:36 pm

Jason (Tet) loathed his time behind the wheel. Only an hour left and it was someone else's turn. He had spent Gencon doing the usual; he demo'd games, the checked out events, and he drank lots of beer in between.

This morning he had felt the culmination of ten IPAs and an assorted red ale or two. He slept most of the morning while the others drove, but agreed that it was his turn and got behind the wheel. He had his green tea Monster and coffee, trying to caffeinate himself to stay alert and awake. Jason was telling a story to whomever was in the front passenger seat about how he thought Fantasy Flight Games had a horrible Gencon when he instinctively swerves away from the oncoming car. "FUUUUUUCK!" he screams as he does so.

Wbweather · Post by **Wbweather** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 4:13 pm

Jason sees the Camry leave the east-bound lanes and cross the median. He has a moment of startled disbelief, wondering what has caused the driver to lose control of their vehicle. Then he has the realization that the car is headed directly toward their RV. Luckily his reflexes (and the energy drink) kick in and he jerks the wheel to the right, trying to avoid a head on collision with the vehicle. Time slows to a crawl for him. He hears a gunshot, then realizes it is a tire bursting under the strain of the forces applied to it. The horizon shifts to an odd angle as the RV tilts slightly to the left and seems to balance precariously on two wheels as it continues to move forward into the grassy median. The sudden resistance of the bare front rim on the soft dirt causes the back end of the vehicle to decelerate slower than the front and the long body of the RV begins to rotate so that it moves down the highway sideways. If not for his quick reaction and innate driving ability, the accident could have been fatal. As it is, he manages to steer the RV out of the direct path of the oncoming car, which only strikes the rear of the RV with a glancing blow. The force of impact is strong enough to tilt the spinning vehicle past its tipping point and roll it over. It grinds to a stop lying on the drivers side.

Olligarchy · Post by **Olligarchy** » Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:00 pm

Olli was already rubbing his aching face when Jason's extremely manly scream from the front could be heard, and the RV began to tilt to dangerous extremes. Not even having the energy to scream like a little girl anymore he simply mentally thanks whatever higher being there is that FInnish law had drilled into him the importance of seatbelts, and as a result he was wearing one.

That doesn't stop his head from banging back into the seat and his chest getting crushed uncomfortable against the belts as the RV finally comes to a halt, but at least he got away with a low groan of pain rather than a broken whatcimacallit.

Shaking his head to clear out the stars, he gingerly braces his legs against what had been the window and takes off his seatbelt, looking around the now darkening vehicle.

"Head count!" He hears himself shouting,"Olli, Check."

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