Chapter Text
How did things always fall apart the moment those damned brats show up?
It was supposed to be the most boring, most routine of missions. Check on the Terra Obscura mine to see if the damn thing was finally out of crystals then go home.
But no, those brats had to appear on the most godforsaken misty ass Terra in the middle of fucking nowhere just to throw an oh so convenient bomb into the main mineshaft entrance while he and several other Talons were still inside.
If he were in his right mind, Dark Ace may have grudgingly accepted that the kids truly believed the last of the Talons had taken off already, that they truly hadn’t expected there to be anyone else left. At least, if he’s correctly judging by the look of sheer horror on Aerrows face as his eyes met Dark Ace’s right before the bomb went off. Maybe the stupid fools were actually trying to dig them out from the outside? Wasn’t that what Sky knights claim to do? Save people?
Unfortunately Ace was not in his right mind. Or any kind of mind. The moment that flash of light had faded to darkness it was like a cold fist had plunged into his chest to rip the breath from his lungs.
He can’t breathe.
He can’t breathe!
Snipe felt like time froze because from one second to the next he was hauling the collapsed support beam off his Commander, grunting from the strain before letting out a roar as he twisted to force one end against the floor while wedging the other against an enormous boulder threatening to crush them. It buys him the precious time he needs to carefully but quickly grab Dark Ace and run further within the mineshaft, brain frantically spinning as he tries to process what the fuck just happened. His poor boss had been closest to the bomb, which made sense as he’d been leading them out after a long day declaring the Obscura mine well and truly hollowed out. It was a miracle boss hadn’t been hit by any shrapnel. He thinks. Fuck it’s dark in here. But getting away from the unstable tunnel was the absolute priority right this second.
Thankfully his boss was incredibly light compared to most things Snipe carried so it’s easy to haul ass after the other Talons who actually know where they’re going. Within just minutes they’re safely ensconced in the local Life Saver, which was basically a completely self-contained reinforced bunker built specifically in the event that a mineshaft collapsed. There’s cots with flimsy mattresses, sleeping bags, crates of supplies, a self-contained bathroom featuring a toilet, sink and tiny shower with plumbing…
Most importantly of all, it had vents, heavy, round, five inches thick around the edge steel tubes, a little under 2ft in diameter, which had been carefully guided into the heart of the mountain mine then secured in place so that fresh air would be sucked in from the surface from at least three separate locations. Someone’s already hit the emergency SOS beacon wired into the wall, at least, Snipe hopes that’s what the little flashing red light above the button means. There’s crystal powered lights in here too so they don’t have to worry about shit like carbon dioxide, or monoxide, or whatever.
As Ori secures the heavy steel door behind them, Snipe carefully lays their Boss out on one of the cots as Amsel hastily rifles through her med kit. “Get that chest piece off!” She barked, Snipe obediently grabbing for the hidden clasp at the side of Dark Ace’s chestplate that should release it immediately. Except it doesn’t.
Frantically trying not to think too deeply on how disturbingly warped the chestplate looked, he does what he does best, uses his brute strength to rip the front half of the chestplate off to fling it to one side. Amsel forbids him from lifting Boss to try and slide out the back half of the chest plate, instead carefully cutting the leather armour free along the strategically stitched ‘release’ seams to assess her patient.
He feels helpless. Boss looks so fragile and those bruises on his ribs already look so vicious and… the sounds, the wheezing desperate gasps were just horrific. Fumbling, he quickly finds an oxygen tank and face mask, gratefully accepting Guan’s help setting it up to place the mask carefully over Dark Ace’s face despite the panicked sounds it drew from the man. It feels like eternity before Amsel is done carefully feeling over the rapidly darkening skin, letting out a relieved sigh before beginning to carefully wrap the barely conscious man’s ribs. “Not broken.” She declares, gratefully accepting Snipes help with the tedious process so that they can prop boss up at an angle to help him breathe.
Which he’s still kinda not doing well.
Wait.
Oh shit.
Amsel threatens to stab him when Snipe carefully scoots Ace over a bit to lie next to him, the burly man gruffly demanding that Blu set up the lone fan at bosses bedside so the breeze is pointing right at the Commanders face. That's about the time Amsel seems to realise Snipe actually knows what he’s doing, hastening to insert a cannula so she can give boss some painkillers then get clear.
With a gentleness few would expect, Snipe carefully rests his hand over Ace’s unseeing eyes, coaxing him to close them as he catches his breath. Perhaps it was the warmth of the brawler against his side, or the barely there weight of a hand over his eyes, or the painkillers finally kicking in, but boss finally started to relax.
How could he have forgotten? It was what had made Snipe run so fast in the first place the moment he saw the bomb. Part of him had been hoping Dark Ace would have time to get clear, some smaller part foolishly thinking he could throw the bomb or at least his boss clear of the mine entrance so it wouldn’t collapse on top of the man… either option would have been better for the deadly warrior now trembling violently against his side.
It wasn’t exactly a secret. Ravess had called it an ‘open secret’, something everybody knew but didn’t ever really talk about. Snipe never understood why you didn’t talk about shit everyone already knew, especially when it could be taken as talking shit behind someone’s back. So when he’d heard the rumours about how Dark Ace would never stay on an airship more than hour before flying out solo on his skimmer, and the other rumour about never standing between the boss and an exit, and another rumour that the Boss rarely ever slept in his own room and could be often found sleeping in the barracks hall, he’d decided to just outright ask the guy about it.
Privately, of course. Snipe had waited until the stuffy meeting had ended before offering to buy the boss some lunch from a sweet little drive thru he knew, knowing full well that boss always made some excuse to go flying after a crowded meeting anyway. He hadn’t actually expected the guy to take him up on the offer, or to actually talk to him, but those Mesan style souvlaki wraps had apparently been so good that they’d ended the conversation on first name terms. So long as they were off duty, Snipe got to call his boss ‘Ace’, which was awesome.
Oh, and Ace was painfully claustrophobic after the Rebel Ducks had set off a bomb on Gale way back before Cyclonia had fully invaded, killing a bunch of Talons but also murdering a ton of their ‘brethren’ in the process (who hadn’t been warned of the bomb).
Little Ace had been trapped in the rubble of his home for three days crying for his dead mother before the Talons completed their invasion and started sorting through the wreckage. Those cheese loving bastards hadn’t made any effort to look for survivors, so it made sense that little Ace immediately latched on to the Talons that had rescued him. Unfortunately his phobia had never faded, even with years of therapy. He’d certainly improved a great deal, just… feeling trapped almost always triggered him. Which was understandable because being trapped sucked.
Snipe hadn’t judged. He had all kinds of issues with clowns. Mostly because he'd been very young when he’d gotten lost on a trip to Terra Neon when there was a circus themed event going on. All the staff members had been forced to dress up as clowns, meaning little Snipe had been surrounded by the scary-faced adults when one had found him wandering the park alone then dropped him off at the staff break room while an announcement was made.
Ace hadn’t laughed, just winced in sympathy then offered him some fried kalamari. From that day on they had an unspoken agreement, Snipe covered for whenever Ace needed a moment outside or some space for himself, and Ace would ensure that Snipe never had to go anywhere near anyplace that had circus events going on. Maybe Ace benefited more from their deal but honestly, Snipe had been sleeping much better knowing he wasn’t going to accidentally run into a clown on his assignments. So really it balanced out.
Besides, it was nice having a friend who knew the kind of pressure every commanding officer had to endure. A lot of his buddies were lower ranking Talons, most of the elites too snobbish for the likes of Snipe. They’d often sneer behind his back, claiming he’d only gotten ranked Elite because of his family name. But that wasn’t true! He’d earned his rank! Even if he kind of resented it. He’d had way more fun among the normal Talons, making friends had come easily to him then, networking was fun. Better yet, they’d actually respected him, enough to listen to his ideas at least. Once he got promoted among the Elite however… people just, they stopped listening. Claimed they were elite for a reason. Started doing shit behind his back and claiming it was better that way. So he let them, hoping he’d get demoted. All it had done was get a lot of assholes in trouble for overstepping their authority.
None of that really helped right now though, except for the fact Snipe would call most of the people in this room his friends. Boss and him counted as all the elite they needed for a simple wrap up mission so a normal unit had been dispatched with them. As such, none of the others question why he’s suddenly getting all cuddly with the boss. Poor boss, who was in no condition to take charge…
“Anybody else get hurt?” Snipe looks over his shoulder at the somber huddled little group all staring helplessly at the blinking beacon. His words startle Guan, the bulky corporal quickly clearing his throat even as he scans the others. “Zeke is limping, I think the rest of us are ok.” The Talon in question immediately squawks as Amsel turns on them, bullying the youngest of their crew into sitting down so she can assess his ankle despite his embarrassed muttering about twisting it when running. Assured no one else needed medical attention, Snipe quickly directs them to get settled. Guan rifling through the rations soon starts a debate on what to have for dinner.
Ori was quick to suggest a game of Wonder and Wastelands to pass the time when Snipe asked for entertainment ideas, the brawler meaningfully glancing down at their still shaking Commander. Of the five low ranking Talons, only Zeke had never played before, which meant the bunker was soon filled with the joyful chattering as people fondly remember their former characters and campaigns. For personal reasons, Ori always carried two sets of dice on herself at all times and was more than willing to pass them around so they could play. With dinner a couple hours away, Guan excitedly starts drawing up some blank character sheets for them all to fill out, the Corporal giving Zeke a quick rundown on the main character classes and species. As this was going to be an improvised campaign, nobody was gonna worry all that much about details, especially as they didn’t have a guidebook to consult. All in all it took a good hour to get everything set up, from setting up a table to scavenging various tools or rocks stored around to act as character models and a little environment (a safety manual propped open made a ‘building’ nearby). It was all going great, until it came time to decide who’d be the Game Master. Blu (one of three Jays in their social circle, hence the nickname) had declared himself not it immediately, Zeke was ruled out purely because he didn’t know what he was doing. Guan wasn’t the best at coming up with scenarios on the fly, neither was Amsel. Ori was the obvious choice, except she’d already written a really creative character sheet that she was desperate to try out ahead of the campaign her usual gamer group had planned to start next month…
So Snipe rolled his eyes with a groan and set his character sheet aside. “Alright fine! I’ll do it. Boss can help if he’s feeling up for it later, alright? Alright. Now gimme that menu.” With everyone rushing to rearrange themselves so that Snipe had one side of the fold out table for himself with the Chi Yu Yum menu acting as a game master screen, he starts to scribble out a rough scenario outline. By the time the others had figured out their seating plan (so Zeke could keep their ankle elevated), he’d worked out some rough NPC’s for them to interact with. More importantly, he’d checked on Ace. The slender warrior seemed to have been doing much better. At some point he’d grabbed the blanket Ansel had draped over his lower legs and pulled it up over his shoulders, slowly turning until he’d ended up on his right side curled up against Snipe. Between the oxygen mask, the steady breeze from the rackety old fan and everyone’s relaxed chattering, it looked like he’d managed to finally calm down.
Checking they were fully shielded by his makeshift screen (and briefly longing for noodles when he saw the little photo of the kung pow chicken dish) Snipe risks a very gentle ruffle of Ace’s hair. “You ok boss?” He immediately pulls his hand away, giving Ace the space to decide how much contact he can handle. That was another reason they got along surprisingly well outside of work, Snipe didn’t need to know why Ace felt better doing something, just that it helped. That simple acceptance had gone a long way to earning the Commanders trust, especially when boss was constantly frustrated by Snipes' self sabotaging attempts to get demoted. Not that he blamed him, but it was the principle of the thing.
A few moments pass before he more feels than sees the little nod against his side, a relieved smile breaking over his features as he turns his full attention back to the game.
They start with Snipe quickly describing the scene, a rundown pub in a quaint semi-industrial era fishing village where crystals are considered high tech. Lately the locals had been putting out requests for adventurers to investigate a string of disappearances out on the Terra’s vast lake. At first it was just the odd fisherman disappearing, lone rowboats being found with no sign of their owners. Then, they’d found larger boats adrift, bloody stains splattered across the helm far from where any fish would ever be processed. Finally, a local had sworn they’d seen something snatch a young lass right off the town pier itself. The players were adventurers answering the call to investigate and, if needed, destroy whatever was hunting people.
It’s a pretty damn good intro if he may say so himself, sitting back with a grin as his friends all introduce their characters. They’ve got an eclectic mix, from Ori’s bird person, to Zeke’s gnome who’d apparently teamed up with Guan’s monk ‘years ago’ and rode around in a backpack to literally watch the monks back for him. Amsel had surprised everyone by going for a Merbian barbarian, while Blu was playing an elderly former pirate that had more prosthetics than flesh, describing himself as a living multitool. They had a fun little role play of everyone meeting in the pub and deciding to work together, splitting up to try and get more info about the disappearances from the locals scattered around the bar.
A hilarious failed romantic sway attempt by Ori’s avian Druid later and the players had quickly latched on to a correlation between the disappearances and the mysterious mist that had been creeping over the terra lately.
By that point it’s time for dinner, everyone in high spirits from the joyful banter and developing character bonds. Ace is gently helped to sit up, Amsel doing her best to refrain from fussing too much as she checks his vitals before deciding he can go without the oxygen mask for now. If he wanted.
Snipe manages to carefully avoid leaning too much or otherwise shifting in any matter that could make Ace feel trapped while simultaneously playing it off as totally natural. Not that he’s exactly graceful, he almost accidentally elbows Ace in the head to avoid resting it against the other's chest. He gets a jab to the side in reprimand, but no one’s hyperventilating so Snipe considers it a win.
With the power of puppy eyes and some pointed remarks about setting an example for the kids (Zeke protesting loudly), Snipe harasses Ace into eating some dinner, everyone sympathetically averting their eyes each time the poor guy flinches in pain or hisses from breathing too deeply. Amsel awkwardly hands over some pills for him to take, not-so-subtly making a note of the exact time their boss takes them. Before Ace can start with snide remarks about taking care of himself, Snipe quickly dives into an analysis of their supplies. For seven people, they comfortably have enough food for three square meals a day for two months. The snacks however are in much more limited supply.
“Alright! Here’s the plan, we’re gonna divide ‘em all up even! THEN-“ He talks over Blu’s protest before words can even form, “We can trade ‘em for shit we like with each other! Got it? Anything left over we’ll use like prizes and shit for the campaign.” The brewing rebellion is immediately quashed, Guan grabbing the crate of snacks to sort into seven even piles where everyone can see. This way no one can claim foul play later on. It doesn’t take long for Ori to start pleading with Amsel to trade her chocolate bars for some of her beef jerky.
“Prove yourself useful as a healer and maybe I’ll consider it.” Amsel declares, giving the groaning woman a smug little smirk. Snipe wasn’t sure whether to be worried or impressed that the medic was still holding a grudge from that game campaign last year where her carefully crafted well developed archer character had been killed because Ori had been too busy trying to pickpocket the boss.
That drama aside, Blu’s doing a good job explaining more about Wonders and Wastelands to Zeke, mostly clarifying that it is not just for nerds but an excellent thought exercise that many of the higher ranking Talons swear by. Which is half true. Kind of. Dark Ace swears it is and frankly he’s the greatest warrior in Atmos so really it’s only his opinion that really matters.
Guan manages to find some little cardboard boxes they can each keep their snacks in, Snipe quick to give Ace his bounty first. Watching people without them noticing was a tricky but extremely useful skill that had taken Snipe literally decades to learn. He still wasn’t all that good at it in combat or high stress situations, but he’d gotten good enough to consistently read the room most of the time. Which helps him notice that Amsel has been flicking her eyes over to the flashing beacon every few minutes, and that Ace had been organising his snacks in his little box rather than immediately going for the lava worm jerky the man loved so much. Boss couldn’t be full from dinner alone, rations never were the most filling, which meant the pain had to be getting to him.
“How’re we doing on painkillers doc? Like, should we save the soft shit for Zeke? Boss has got a higher tolerance so he’d be ok on stronger stuff a while.” It’s so subtle Amsel almost misses it. Almost. But it worked, her attention is now off the beacon and fully on her primary patient, giving him another look over before giving him another dose of IV painkillers. Thoroughly distracted working out what to give Ace and how often, as well as how much medical supplies they have overall, Amsel is suitably distracted for the evening. Snipe fetches Ace more water to drink, offering one of his own packs of lava worm jerky to the sleepy commander to chew on. It had taken a lot of reading on anxiety conditions in general (there was a severely lacking amount of information on how to help someone claustrophobic when they’re stuck in a small space) but Snipe had come across one theory that the act of chewing helped to trick the brain into calming down from a high alert state. Something about how you can’t eat when stressed about danger so the reverse had to be true or something… Snipe had taken it to mean that eating meant shit was safe, so getting Ace to eat more would help distract him from how unsafe his brain felt.
It seemed to work, within ten minutes of boss finishing his jerky he’d slumped down then closed his eyes, not stirring when Snipe had carefully eased himself off the cot to give him space. The brawler quickly claims the cot right next to Ace though, moving the gaming table back into a corner so he can quietly scoot the cot within reach of Ace’s bed. Just in case the guy woke up freaking out, then it’d wake Snipe, which meant he’d be able to help.
Guan seems to be keeping a close eye on Zeke, intervening whenever Blu teases the kid too much. Ori was scribbling something in her ever present journal, likely something to do with W&W, Ansel seemed to be coming to the end of taking the medical inventory. “We have enough to last the Commander the maximum daily doses he can have for four weeks, providing no one else needs it.” It’s a grim assessment, made all the clearer by how low she’s keeping her voice. Not that they could exactly hide much in the bunker. Aside from the bathroom, all they had was a long room that was about 5 meters wide by about 20 meters long. Just enough to accommodate twelve cots, a crystal generator and several storage racks with supplies. It's lucky really that there were so few of them. When Snipe thinks about it, they’re actually pretty underequipped medical-wise. What if there had been more of them? Cave ins were pretty common, and usually devastating. What if more than just Ace got squished?! He’ll have to make a note, mention it to Master Cyclonis when they get home.
“Think we’re all good bro.” Guan quietly announces, crouching next to Snipes cot as his superior furiously scribbles a note for his future self. “Shall we call for lights out?”
Before Snipe can give the go ahead, the brawler visibly wrenches himself back to smack himself on the forehead. “Shit, no, wait… do we got a little lamp? Like a night light?” With a meaningful look over at Ace, Guan soon catches on. “Let’s look.”
It takes a while, the others beginning to grumble curiously as the minutes tick by. Finally they come up with a little crystal lamp, sticking a low grade firebolt in there is enough to give off a consistent glow that’s just dim enough that it won’t bother the others. Much. But it should be enough that if Ace wakes up he won’t immediately freak out in near total darkness. Grabbing a stool, Snipe carefully sets the lantern up right by Ace’s bed before declaring lights out, everyone quick to settle down for the night. There’s the customary half hour or so as everyone gets comfortable enough to drift off, Zeke especially struggling to find a position that’s comfortable.
Finally, it’s just Snipe wide awake in the darkness, mind whirring with endless ‘what ifs?’
Boss was hurt, worse, he was freaked out. It was gonna be taking everything the guy had not to have a breakdown. Everyone’s heard of the claustrophobic Talon that went crazy trapped in a cave in, supposedly the guy peeled off his own skin before he died of asphyxiation. Snipe really doesn’t want that to happen to Ace. Or anyone really. So, that meant he was officially in charge.
…that’s terrifying.
Ok ok, priorities.
One, keep Ace calm. Best way to keep him calm was to keep him from feeling trapped. So, boss got priority with the fan, a nice steady breeze would hopefully help. And the nightlight. If anyone asks, Snipe can say it’s to make sure everybody can make their way to the bathroom at night without tripping over something.
Two, keep everyone busy. Which the W&W campaign should do. Cool. Except he needs to come up with a proper campaign that didn’t depend on the guys dicking around. He was more of a ‘one and done’ kind of game master, sending people out on adventures that only lasted one game session. And even those usually took him ages to plan…
Ok new idea, if Ace didn’t wanna be a player, maybe he could help Snipe? Like a Game Master assistant. Partner. Note to self, never call Ace an assistant, dude was still his boss. But yeah, boss was amazing at long term planning for shit, if he helped out with the campaign, they could keep this shit going for weeks!
Not that he thinks they’re gonna be stuck here for weeks.
… he really hopes they won’t be stuck here for weeks.
Ok, boss will probably be waking up early, so if Snipe sets his alarm he might be able to get a couple hours alone time planning with Ace before the others wake up. With that decided, he grabs his peeper and sets it for 5am. He's usually up around that time to get his daily workouts in before heading to work, and he’d rather be up too early than risk leaving boss awake and freaking out.
Totally assured his awesome plan would absolutely work, Snipe lets himself drift off to sleep with a smile.
Cyclonian peepers were once known as silent alarm clocks. They were a pretty ingenious little device that allowed Talons who wished to get up earlier than their coworkers to do so without waking the entire barracks, which usually resulted in a beating. Fashioned to look like a pocket watch, you’d set the peeper just like any alarm clock then stick it under your pillow right beneath your head. At the set time, it would ‘go off’ by frantically flapping its protective little cover lid like a startled clam, the idea being that the frantic movement would wake the soldier sleeping right on top of it. As decades rolled by however, there was one teeny tiny design flaw that had been overlooked. With excessive use, their hinges would get a little gummed up over time, resulting in their frantic flapping sounding more like a baby bird ‘peeping’ as the hinges squeaked. Thus the SAC’s became known as peepers.
Snipe’s peeper valiantly awoke its owner to a chorus of persistent squeaking, continuing its relentless struggle until he silenced it. Just as he’d planned, he was up at 5am. Letting out a jaw cracking yawn, he quickly makes his way to the bathroom, checking on everyone as he passes. Ace seems to be sleeping, though not very well if the strained look on his face in the dim light is anything to go by. He's probably overdue a top up of his pain meds. Once Snipe is done using the facilities and freshening himself up, he makes his way over to scruitinise his boss further. As important as it was to let the guy get sleep, making sure it was restful sleep would benefit them all in the long term.
Right as he’s trying to decide what to do, Ace’s eyes open just a slither, as if he hadn’t really been sleeping. “Hey boss, sorry, did I wake ya?” Keeping his voice quiet, Snipe shuffles over to Ace’s bedside, doing his best to not block the light from the lamp. The sad exhausted little sigh he gets in response is telling enough, Snipe quickly grabs a (pre-packaged premeasured) syringe of painkillers to administer through the cannula, then scrawls the time on the little notepad on the outside of the syringe box. “There ya go. Wanna try sleeping some more… or wanna hang out a bit? It’s ass o’clock so no problem if you wanna sleep.” Do not mention that there’s nowhere they can go, do not remind him they’re all trapped.
Ace closes his eyes, clearly making a valiant effort to drift off before giving up with another sad sigh. That's ok. Time for Snipes' super awesome plan. “Hey, boss, would ya mind helping me a little? I didn’t get much time to think about the game campaign yesterday and I don’t wanna disappoint Zeke on his first game y’know? You can play today if you want just… would you mind helping me figure out something a little more long term for plot shit to keep ‘em all busy?” Ace perks up immediately.
Snipe once more ends up sitting on the cot with Ace leaning against him, the Commander practically hugging the little lantern so Snipe can see the multiple notes he’s taking as his humble campaign plot evolves into something worthy of being bragged about in the cafeteria.
When Ace starts to sag against him, Snipe pointedly doesn’t mention it, only making sure that the lantern was set aside when Ace finally nodded off again. Just like Snipe suspected, no one else had set their peepers, meaning nobody judged their boss for sleeping in so late. Matter of fact, Ace stirs about 10am. Zeke and surprisingly Amsel were still fast asleep. The others upon waking had taken turns in the bathroom then quickly found ways of quietly keeping themselves amused. Ori and Blu had been coordinating quietly with Snipe to build tiny character models out of some putty they’d found, the kind usually used to stick dynamite in place. Guan had found himself a book about cave in protocol that he’d been taking his time reading in depth, promising to give Snipe the highlights so the brawler could focus on the campaign instead.
Usually in such dire situations Snipe would at least make an effort to read important shit like that, but frankly the campaign was their best bet for keeping morale up right now so he may as well capitalise on everyone’s enthusiasm. It’s already helping a ton, when they’re awake (once Amsel had checked on her patients once more) the remaining Talons get to work on building tiny set pieces they can use for the campaign, starting with little buildings to represent the village by the lake. Ace sleepily uses Snipes' belly as a pillow while quietly making suggestions for side quests. After a quick lunch (breakfast for some, the others had snacked) they decide to set up the table once more to continue their Wonder and Wastelands campaign.
Picking up where they left off, the players decide to scout around the lake and pier during the day while there wasn’t any mist around. Thanks to Ace scheming with Snipe, they get totally derailed helping two bitter old women on opposite sides of the village trying to one up each other. They manage to pass three hours laughing hysterically as they dig up dirt on each woman’s respective families, Ori’s Druid seduces one of the women’s sons into dishing the dirt on his mom, Zeke’s gnome was thrown through an open window at one point to sneak through a house to unlock the door so the others could snoop only to get chased by the family dog, which only left him alone when Ori’s Druid shapeshifted into another dog to get its attention…
In short it’s chaos, made even better by the players so blatantly leaning into the chaos for maximum hilarity. Snipe has so much fun that he rewards them with a magic hole on a sheet, given away by one of the old women’s relatives for making the grumpy old biddy happy. When laid flat on a surface, the black hole at its center could be entered to reveal a round ‘room’ about 6ft wide by 10ft tall. Its former owner had been using it to store their old unfinished knitting and crochet projects, so the party now not only had portable storage, but also a collection of half finished blankets and plushies they could in theory utilise in the future.
Finally they get back on track exploring around the lake, tracking down some unusual worn symbols carved into tall stones along the shoreline (courtesy of Ace who’d been busy scribbling more lore as the game progressed). To everyone’s absolute delight, Ace roleplays an elderly lighthouse keeper that gives the team cryptic warnings, not only of things not being what they seem, but that more than once, their lighthouse wasn’t the only light out on the lake…
Who knew that boss would be so good at voices?! It definitely brings another level to the gameplay, Zeke notably bolstered about getting into character more as his gnome keeps hidden in Guans backpack eyeing all the passing villagers suspiciously. Something that Snipe rewards by ominously informing them that Zeke’s gnome notices that every time they pass a villager, the people stop and slowly turn to stare with blank dead eyes until the party are out of sight. Almost like something is looking through the villagers…
The other players are psyched. There's already talk of a mind controlling monster living in the lake, it’s just what Snipe had been hoping for. They spend about five hours doing more investigating, stocking up on supplies while hiring a little boat to go out on the lake that night. Supposedly there wasn’t due to be any mist, so they should be safe. In theory.
Pausing right before nightfall in-game, everyone takes their time eating their MRE’s. Amsel had been regularly checking on Ace throughout the game so to everyone’s relief he was able to finish his dinner entirely. Snipe even managed to tempt him with a chocolate bar. They’re on a roll! Before Snipe can even finish asking if they wanted to continue the game after dinner, everyone had rushed to take their places, Guan already talking possible tactics with Amsel while Ori tells Zeke all about the many magical creatures living in the W&W-verse. Blu is busy trying to very carefully balance their tiny putty figures on the paper cut out boat ready for the next stage of gameplay, Snipe breaking out some blueprints he’d found to use the backside as their lake.
It’s a brilliant adventure, the party using their talents to race their little boat across the lake chasing what they thought was the monster responsible, only to discover a cult hiding in a cave on the distant lake shoreline. In a stroke of genius and several d20 rolls, they manage to sneak Zeke’s gnome into the cultists lair to scout around while the rest of the party prepared.
Then Zeke rolled his first 1.
As the party frantically tried sneaking into the lair the bad rolls just kept coming, stalling them when they just couldn’t get past a door. It would have been hilarious if poor Zeke also wasn’t rolling so poorly. Snipe tried, he tried so hard to give them all the leeway to rescue Zeke’s character, but obeying the dice is part of the W&W experience. Zeke’s gnome didn’t survive the ritual sacrifice. The party arrived just in time to see their little gnome buddy die and a legit Eldritch lake monster be summoned using their friends' life force.
Even Ace seemed upset, and he’d helped plan the ‘consequence’ of getting caught.
With the rest of the party fleeing the cultists' lair, Snipe calls the session to a close, all too aware how late it probably was and unsure if he could salvage the mood with one player currently out the game. No matter how kind the others were about it, some trying to share stories of how their characters had died in other campaigns, Zeke was still visibly upset no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Casually sidling up to the kid, Snipe wraps a beefy arm around his shoulders. He remembered that Zeke had been super uncertain about making a character all by himself, shy about the roleplay element, hence why Guan had proposed their characters be introduced as a long established duo.
A duo.
“Hey boss! How about you play? You can make a character with Zeke!” Two for one distraction. Ace raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. Snipe knows him though, knows that pinched expression means the painkillers are wearing off a good half hour before they’re due. Boss could use a distraction just as much as Zeke. It takes some elaborate eyebrow waggling, thumbs up, grinning and miming behind the kids back, but he eventually gets Ace to reluctantly let the kid settle at his bedside to walk Zeke through making a new character. Just like every other young Talon, the kid was totally awestruck by the legend that was the Dark Ace, hanging on their bosses every word as he recounts some of his favourite W&W characters he’d made for the various campaigns he’d played back when he had the time to have a social life.
You could practically feel the mood get lighter the more Zeke talked to his idol, the kid doing a good job staying focused and not fanboying too much. Ace was also handling the attention admirably, even if he did get noticeably sleepy when Ansel swooped in with his meds.
Seeing Ace lagging, Snipe starts ushering everybody to take turns with the bathroom ready to settle in to go sleep, feeling proud at yet another successful day of keeping morale up. Everything is going great.
Then the room shakes.