Bath Imaginable

This week I played a solo Electric Bastionland adventure using the Clay Shelf by Yochai Gal.

THE CAST
This group collectively owes £10k to Flex Restaurant. They are blacklisted from every reputable eatery in Bastion until they pay. The group heard about a valuable artifact hidden in plain sight in the flooded city of Indigo–the Blue Tear. It might be worth enough to help with their debt.

There’s a line of trucks waiting to be weighed by the baboon at the weigh station, literally. It scratches at its ear as it waves the clanking traffic forward.

Katsun holds his lamp, a cigarette dangles from his mouth. Gizard runs his hand across the cooling metal of the float. It’s covered in dirt, the once-bright streamers are dull and torn. It’s out of electricity.

“It’s tired,” Gizard says. “I can sense it.”

Katsun points to the road. There’s a hefty fellow walking between the smoking trucks. He’s speaking loudly at each of the drivers and readjusting the bulky firearm that hangs from his belt.

“Ask him for a boost.” Katsun grunts.

“Do they even have electricity out here?” Vanessa asks, lifting her sunglasses for the first time since the group left the city. She squints at the weigh station. Wind scatters the dust between the trio.

The man smiles as Vanessa approaches, Gizard and Katsun watch from the float.

• Vanessa passes a CHA save for a favorable reaction.

“You’re from Bastion, right?” The man asks, placing his hands on his hips.

“How could you tell?” Vanessa lifts a cigarette from her handbag.

The man stumbles forward to hold out his lighter. It takes a few clicks before it lights–Vanessa inhales deeply–“thanks,” she smiles.

The man lights a cigarette of his own. The traffic starts to stall behind him.

“Husker,” the man says. “Husker Scon. Where ya headed?”

“Indigo,” Vanessa tells him, “but our vehicle has run out of electricity. You wouldn’t be able to, I don’t know, charge it somehow, would you?”

Husker looks over Vanessa’s shoulder. Sees the float. Sees the men standing with their hands on their hips. City folk.

“Sure, I could fix it up for you. It might take a day or so. In the mean time, you should see the sights. It’s early, you could walk to Elephant Rock and back before it’s dark.”

“What’s Elephant Rock?”

“It’s a big rock.” Husker says.

“Why would I want to see that?” Vanessa asks.

“Well, it looks like an elephant. But taller.”

“Ah.” Vanessa takes a final drag from her cigarette. She drops it in the dirt.

“Let’s go people!” An impatient driver shouts from his clattering machine. The baboon at the weigh station hoots and snarls at him.

“Well,” Husker says finishing his cigarette, “I’ll take a look at your vehicle once things slow down around here.”

“What now?” Gizard asks, “do we just wait?”

• Vanessa fails a CHA save, and doesn’t realize Husker is untrustworthy.

“We could check out this big rock he mentioned,” Vanessa suggests.

“What’s in White Lake?” Katsun asks, pointing at the sign. The trail disappears into the scrublands beyond the horizon.

“We need to focus on getting to Indigo,” Vanessa says impatiently. “If this Blue Tear is hidden in plain sight it’s only a matter of time until someone else gets it. I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s not like you need to worry about money,” Gizard scoffs.

“Hey,” Vanessa scowls, “eight barons–all of them very far from Bastion–still need to die before I’ll be the Faux-Reiner of Trave. I need to take care of myself until then.”

“Don’t pout.” Katsun says. “I’m sure I can fix this vehicle myself. Besides, I don’t trust anyone who abuses animals.”

Katsun lifts a pink crystal from his pocket and puts it to his forehead. He runs his hand across the surface of the memorial-float.

• Katsun fails a CHA save to fix the memorial float.

“It’s tired, like you said.” Katsun announces. “Gizard, remove this panel.”

Katsun begins pointing at the memorial-float with his ceramic rod and ordering Gizard to dismantle each section that “doesn’t react.” Only the barest metal frame is left when the two are done, and the sun is high in the sky.

“I can’t fix this now,” Husker says disapprovingly, standing over a pile of scrap metal and twisted wires. “You’ve wrecked the whole thing.”

The highway is quiet. The baboon rests its eyes, stooped-comfortably in its stool at the controls of the weigh station. Husker sifts through the scraps, looking for anything of value.

“Well, thanks for your offer.” Gizard holds out his hand to shake Husker’s.

• Husker passes a CHA save, prefers to not shake Gizard’s hand. He doesn’t know why.

“Who’s going to clean all this up?” Husker asks, his hands still in his pockets.

“Your baboon, I imagine.” Vanessa replies sharply. “Boys, let’s go.”

• Husker uses his heliotrope to signal Flat Bandits ahead on the road.

ELEPHANT ROCK
The group walks along the poorly-maintained road bisecting the region. On either side of them, a vast desert extends until it reaches the distant caldera. The Clay Shelf. Occasionally, loud trucks break the silence as they blast between the despondent walkers.

• Three Flat Bandits hide behind Elephant Rock, waiting for the marks Husker signaled about.

Flat Bandit
HP 3
£d6, chewing gum, pistol (d6)

• Luck Roll. Do any of the PCs notice the bandits as they approach? Yes.

Vanessa stops walking. She remembers the creepy feeling Husker gave her. The way he wouldn’t shake Gizard’s hand.

“Hey,” Gizard says, “the rock does look like an elephant.”

“Only taller.” Katsun adds.

A crash zoom reveals Vanessa’s perspective: a wiry man runs and lays down on the ground behind a boulder, a pistol in his outstretched hand.

“There’s troublemakers in those rocks.” Vanessa warns the others. “We need to think carefully.”

“How many?” Katsun asks.

• Vanessa fails a CHA save. She isn’t confident.

“At least one…” Vanessa sighs.

“They probably mean to rob us.” Gizard says. “We should go back, maybe we can hitchhike to Indigo?”

“It’s not like we have any money,” Vanessa says, “but maybe they’ll just kill us.”

“What do we do, Boss?” Katsun asks. He crouches by the highway. Squints into the distance. Turns his pink crystal between his thumb and index finger.

Vanessa lights a cigarette. “Let me think.”

A flash of insight.

“Katsun,” Vanessa says, “give me your glue.”

As the group descends toward Elephant Rock, three figures step out from behind the boulders and form a line blocking the road.

“Hold it right there,” the wiry leader says in a monotone voice. He holds his pistol at his hip. His jacket is dusty from laying on the ground.

• Luck Roll. Are the other bandits pointing their pistols? No.

One of the bandits has an intense stare, and a constellation of tattoos across his shaved head. He keeps his arms crossed.

The third bandit is a young woman chewing gum, dressed in modern clothes. She keeps her hands on her hips, her pistol tucked in her belt.

“Empty your pockets.” The wiry leader says.

Katsun steps forward, he’s holding a fancy box of cigars in one hand, and a bottle of brandy in the other.

“Please,” he says flatly as he stretches out his arms, “don’t hurt us.”

“Charli,” the leader says, “grab that shit. The rest of you–” he points the pistol at Gizard, then Vanessa–“I said empty your pockets!”

Charli steps forward, rolls her eyes at her Boyfriend’s red-blooded display, and reaches for the bottle and the cigars. Katsun smiles weakly. There’s a faint smell of chemicals.

• Charli passes a CHA save to notice the glue.

“Ew, what the fuck,” she says, “there’s something sticky all over this stuff, I’m not touching that.”

Katsun drops the bottle, drops the cigars, and reaches for Charli’s pistol. He rips it from her belt and points it at her head.

• Katsun passes a DEX save to act before the bandits.
• Katsun passes a STR save to rip the pistol from Charli.
• The Boyfriend passes a DEX save to act before the PCs.

The Boyfriend turns his pistol to Katsun. He takes a sharp inhale and fires. A pink spray explodes from Katsun’s side.

• The Boyfriend rolls 6 damage, reducing Katsun to 0 HP and causing a Scar (p. 9).
• Katsun is scarred: A vital organ is in a critical state. If you take CRITICAL DAMAGE before seeing a Specialist you die. If you get it seen to, reroll your Maximum HP on 2d6 and keep the result if higher.

“Damn it,” Katsun groans, folding in half but staying on his feet. Blood soaks the sand.

Vanessa rushes the Boyfriend, revealing the wrought-iron fire poker hidden in her jacket. With her lit cigarette in her mouth, she strikes at the Boyfriend in a violent barrage.

• Vanessa rolls 3 damage, reducing the Boyfriend to 0 HP and STR 9.
• The Boyfriend critically fails his STR save to avoid CRITICAL DAMAGE.

The Boyfriend collapses to the ground, Vanessa continues to slash at him, whittling away the flesh on his knuckles as he raises his arms to defend himself.

The bandit with the tattoos reaches for his pistol; aims it at Vanessa.

• The Flat Bandit fails his DEX save to act before the PCs.

Gizard rushes the bandit, brandishing a pick-axe and thrusting it into the bandit’s shoulder.

• Gizard rolls 6 damage, reducing the Flat Bandit to 0 HP and STR 6.
• The Flat Bandit fails his STR save to avoid CRITICAL DAMAGE.

The bandit coughs blood and collapses onto the ground, Gizard falls on top of him. He can sense the bandit’s rage, the bandit’s bloodlust. But also… an intense desire to study the cosmos.

• Charli passes a CHA save to avoid fleeing.

Charli runs at Katsun, trying to rip her pistol out his hand.

• Charli fails a STR save to grab the pistol.

Katsun pushes Charli back. He steps back several paces, placing both hands on the pistol.

“Don’t move.” Katsun orders. “Gizard, get their guns.”

Gizard quickly gets to his feet, collecting both pistols scattered in the dirt.

Charli looks up at Katsun. Her Boyfriend is disfigured from the fire poker, crying out and spitting blood, Vanessa pants above him.

“This guy’s bleeding out,” Gizard says, “he’s not going to make it.”

Vanessa is quiet for a moment. Cicadas buzz in the surrounding shrubs.

“Vanessa?” Gizard hisses.

“You should have taken the cigars and the brandy…” Vanessa stomps over the bodies to Gizard.

“Give me those,” she says.

“Yes, Boss.”

Vanessa tucks one of the pistols into her waistband and points the other one at Charli.

“Did Husker put you up to this?” She asks flatly.

• Charli fails a CHA save.

“Yes.”

Three gunshots echo out across the Clay Shelf.

“Memento,” Gizard says, “it’s this way.” He puts his hand on Vanessa’s shoulder, “you obviously want to kill Husker,” he says softly, “but we can’t.”

Vanessa pushes his hand away, “I know. We need to get Katsun to a doctor. We can’t go back.”

“I’m fine boss,” Katsun says, “let’s go free that baboon.”

A cold breeze. The first stars are already visible in the sky.

“No,” Vanessa says firmly. “We’re going to keep moving, to Memento. Fuck Husker. I won’t forget his stupid face.”

MEMENTO
Small creek snakes through brightly-colored buildings, a brightly-lit saloon at its center. It’s late when they arrive, they’ve been walking all night.

THE FOUNDOUK
A rustic, lamp-shaped inn. Busy and brightly-lit all hours of the night. A constant, electrical buzzing hums from within.

“We need help!” Vanessa shouts as the group enters the brightly lit saloon. There’s a few people drinking at the bar, and the sound of mechanical whirring from the kitchen.

Katsun limps in behind Vanessa, he’s propped up by Gizard.

“Is anyone a doctor?” Vanessa asks the room, her voice softening now.

• Luck Roll. Is anyone in the saloon willing to look at Katsun’s wounds? Yes.

The sole patron–a middle-aged woman–stands up. She finishes her dark liquor and sets the glass down, “let me take a look,” she croaks.

Gizard rests Katsun on a dusty wooden chair. The woman lifts a penlight from her jacket.

“You’ve been shot,” she says, shining the penlight over Katsun’s flank. “Who did this?”

“Bandits,” Vanessa says, “on the road.”

“Flat Bandits…” the woman snarls, “they’ve been watching me ever since I got here.” She crouches to take a closer look at Katsun’s side.

• Ines passes a CHA save to assess the injury.

“Your liver is injured…” The woman slurs, “you won’t survive another injury.”

“Can you help him?” Vanessa asks.

“No, I’m not that kind of doctor.” The woman says, tucking her penlight back into her jacket. “There’s a hospital in Indigo. In the Orchard. You should take him there.”

“We’ll rest here tonight, and leave tomorrow.” Vanessa says.

“Let’s get a drink,” Katsun adds.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Gizard warns.

A golden cat sits on the bar.

“What can I offer you?” It purrs.

“Just a room,” Vanessa says, “are you the owner?”

“Mr. Bitters,” the cat sits back, “I’m the manager.”

Gizard turns to the woman, “I didn’t get your name,” he says, placing his hand on her shoulder. He senses her motivation–although dulled by liquor–to learn about the Idir people and the Cerulean Pearl.

“Ines,” she says sharply, her eyes fixed on the cat.

“Ines,” Gizard smiles, “what were you saying about the bandits?”

She turns to make eye contact with Gizard. “Not now,” she hisses.

• Gizard fails a CHA save to read the room.

The cat watches from the bar, “five pounds for the room,” it purrs.

• -£5 for the room.

“I don’t like that cat,” Katsun says. He peaks through the dusty, burgundy blinds into the brightly lit street below.

“Let’s just rest,” Vanessa says, pulling a sleep mask over her face, “we’ll go to Indigo as soon as we can.”

EAST OF THE BONEWATER
It’s afternoon. The characters walk the poorly-maintained road bisecting the region. A heavy haze obscures a large crowd gathered ahead. They hold long rifles and block the road.

• Random Encounters on the Road. Whenever the PCs stop to rest, leave a settlement, roll a d6.

• Luck Roll. Do the bandits see the PCs? Yes.

There’s a distant popping sound. Tiny explosions in the dirt and asphalt at Katsun’s feet.

“They’re shooting at us!” Gizard cries out.

• Katsun and Vanessa pass a DEX save to act before the bandits.
• Gizard fails a DEX save to act before the bandits.

“Run, run!” Vanessa shouts.

• Katsun passes a DEX save to run back to Memento.
• Vanessa fails a DEX save to run back to Memento.

Katsun turns and runs, disappearing over the hill and leaving a trail of dust. Several more explosions in the dirt, followed by the sounds of distant popping and shouting voices.

Vanessa stumbles, Gizard barely catches her. The two fall to their knees in the road. A crowd of bandits surround them.

“Fur coat,” one of them says, “just like Husker said.”

“Blow them away.” Another says gruffly.

• The bandits roll 11 damage, reducing Vanessa to 0 HP and STR 0. Vanessa is killed.
• The bandits roll 9 damage, reducing Gizard to 0 HP and STR 9. Gizard fails a STR save to avoid CRITICAL DAMAGE.

Vanessa and Gizard are shredded by rifle blasts.

“Go chase down that other one,” the bandit orders. “No one hurts the Flat Bandits and gets away with it…”