Chapter 53

Sunday after Becky headed to work, I went home and went back to work on my earlier adventure I had put on hold to write the still-untitled Kaos one. I had completed several levels of Fyta and was rather pleased. The majority of them were “fixed”, and would spend their entire lives where they were rooted in the ground. These were the first lines of defense and alert, acting more or less like sentries. Their only attack was weak, and as they could not move at all relied upon a member of the party touching them which released a slow-acting acid, taking 1-4 rounds before the burning sensation would be noticed.

And when a party got closer to the center, they would start to run into stronger ones. These were more like guards, and could actually fire spines. The spines were also covered in the same acid as the first line, and these were a lot tougher.

Once past that they were close to the center of the “plant city”. And for this, I went out into the garage and grabbed one of the boxes from when I left here years ago. I set it on the table in the office and started pulling out copy after copy of Dragon magazine, looking at the table of contents. Finally, I grinned, here it was! Issue 53, “The Ways of the Triffids”! I knew I had read about them somewhere. I read through the article, and decided it was not quite what I was looking for it did give me a better idea of how to handle this next level of enemy.

The “Warrior Fyta” were 8 foot tall, and could shamble on their lower stalks at about the speed of a man walking at a slow pace. Not a threat to rush anybody, but obvious they were indeed mobile. This time their attack was more of a threat. They had a bulb at the top of a long stalk, and in one round it could open this and attack. Once opened a two foot long stamen could emerge and strike anybody within range. Blue flowers had a stamen that was covered with a mild acid that could cause blinding, red flowers had a sticky appendage that could bind opponents. This was the real challenge, as these would try to blend into the plants and were hard to detect as the outer coverings of their “bulbs” were green, the red or blue only visible as they opened right before an attack.

25 warrior Fyta, in groups from 4-8 at once. If a player was knocked down they would try to get on top, holding them down with a strength check needed to break free. If held down for two rounds, another weak acid will ooze from their lower body, doing 1-4 damage each round. This will continue to ooze even after a warrior is killed, so the player must still be rescued as even a dead plant will continue to try and digest them.

If they make it to the center, then the big boss. Cythad, an 11th level druid. Ranked as an “Initiate of the 9th circle”, he is powerful, and quite mad. It seems that when he challenged his former guild master for promotion, he had feeblemind cast upon him, which essentially lowered his intelligence to that of a moron. And then he was trapped inside of a wall of thorns. His master left him there for seven days, only allowing him to be freed and healing the feeblemind when he was almost dead.

Cythad was no longer feebleminded, but the experience had driven him quite mad. He has convinced himself he won the challenge, and was now a fully ranked Druid. And he had found these plants and cultivated them, helping them to become what they were now. This would be a tough battle, as he was indeed a powerful druid, and there were guard and warrior fyta hidden in the large central area. Cythad would try to use wall of thorns or entangle to force the players near those fyta, and take out the others in the party once separated.

Once killed, a large tree that was in the center of the grove will animate. This is the Fyta Queen. She is Neutral, and will thank the party for freeing her and her children. They have a hive infrastructure and a hive-mind, all obeying her will. That will had been entrapped by the druid, and now that she is free she will command her remaining children to not harm the party. Rewards and treasures are given, and if searched a large tome of plant lore can be found. If there is a druid in the party, he or she will be given a “Fyta Seed”, with instructions to deliver it to an Archdruid, with the request that it be planted in a proper location. This is a seed of another Fyta Queen, and within 60 days it will open, with three warriors and five workers to help the queen spread out and protect her new nest. The workers were a caste not seen in the main quest, as they are unable to attack so all hid.

I printed the adventure and handed it to Dee, then pulled out some fingersteaks from the freezer and started cooking some and fries for everybody. I was setting the table as she came out, and said it was another great adventure. “Is this why the article on plants Pete?”

“Yep, kind of an introduction to this in a way. Those are not the same, but is exploring the idea that plants can be more than just Ents. A little Day of the Triffids, a little like an ant colony. Neutral, they only want to live. But the Druid ensnared them, and he believes this is his Holy Grove. If met in the wild they will only become hostile if the center of the grove is approached while other of the members are killed. If a party carefully enters and kills none of the members, they will remain peaceful and the queen can be interacted with.”

“That’s a great concept. Peaceful unless provoked, I like that. You know, a party could easily beat this just by doing that.”

“Yeah, I know that. And if they can get to the center and not attack any plants but in the final chamber, they deserve to get the reward that easily. I can’t see a party ignoring the earlier attacks and not responding with force.”

“Good point. OK, I’ll sit down and put in some notes and corrections, but I think this is another hit in the making. Hmm, ‘Into Madness’, an appropriate title. Kinda hints what is coming, but still hides a lot. OK, I got work to do here, you go take-off and play sweetie.”

I laughed, and asked for her keys. When she looked at me, I said I wanted to take George with me, and it would be easier taking her van rather than move his seat into my truck. She nodded and handed them to me. I got George loaded up, and soon he was running around The Oz, a playground at a park a few miles to the South. He had a blast, and it took about an hour and a half, but he was well worn out. When I carried him into the house dad smiled and took him from me, saying he would change him and put him down for his nap.

Dee came and joined us as we watched the Dodger’s getting whooped by the Pirates, and said she had made some minor changes. “So, is this the new pattern until you leave Pete? Spending the day with us, and the night with Becky?”

“Well, kinda. I’m staying here tonight, and leaving tomorrow morning for Yuma. And no, we are still at the kissing and cuddling phase. We both want to take this slow, I think she had some bad experiences with guys trying to rush things. And I guess I kinda had that in the past as well. Rosie said Linda is living with her boyfriend up in Pacoima, somewhere near the mall.”

“Is that why you don’t go up that way?”

“Uh-huh. I also avoid the Galleria, she also used to go there a lot. The Castle in North Hollywood, the mall there or the Fashion Center, I’m trying to go to places that I know she rarely if ever visits. The last thing I want is to run into her again.”

“Well, she never called or came back here after that time when you were on leave last. I would have given her a piece of my mind if she had, trust me!”

It was a great day, sitting around and chatting. At 5 Dee went to make dinner, as I threw a bunch of clothes together into my ditty bags and put them in the back of the truck. I also threw a cammie uniform and my Charley’s (short sleeve dress uniform) into my hanging uniform bag, just in case. And I was just putting them in the truck as Dee was finished.

After dinner dad brought out a AAA travel guide he had picked up for me the day before, and I sat down and started looking through it. I found several that might work, and realized I would have a busy two days.

I got on the road early in the morning, and was early afternoon when I arrived. I found the base and drove around for about an hour, finding reception, and checking out the PX and what else was available. No USO, but there was a rec center.

I checked out six RV parks and campgrounds, and was trying to decide between two of them. I went to the first, and had liked it the most. Right on the banks of the Colorado River, it was a nice one with a pool and small gym. But when I got to the front desk, and right there was a sign. “All units must be 10 years old or newer.” I was reading this as an older gentleman came up and asked if he could help me.

“Well, is this a guideline, or a hard and fast rule?”

“Oh, it’s a rule. We only allow higher class people and newer units in here, had too many problems with people pulling in with old junkers then having to kick them out. Why, what do you have?”

“A 1975 GM. Oh well, thank you for your time.” I shook my head, that was retarded. I could understand if that was a request and could be amended based upon condition. But to just ban somebody for that reason? After all, it’s not like you can easily pick the age of an Airstream, they have hardly changed in decades. A good condition 1965 would outwardly look little different than a 1985 model would.

I went to the second park, and was soon talking with the owner. She had a similar sign, but below that it said “Older rigs allowed at the discretion of management”. This was more like it! I told her what my rig was, and that it was kept in excellent shape, so other than the paint fading a bit it still looked almost new.

She asked me when she could see it, and I said I was going to be moving down at the end of the month. “I report in at the Air Station on the first, and don’t really look forward to living in the barracks. I bought the RV a few years ago, and did some improvements. My dad has been taking care of it while I was deployed.”

She smiled, and said it should not be a problem. “Tell you what, I will allow you to stay for a month, without seeing your rig. If it is as you say, we will extend that to permanent monthly. If it does not meet my requirements, that still gives you a month to find a new home. That sound fair enough?”

“More than fair actually. I stopped at another one by the river, they outright told me no because it is over twelve years old.”

“Yeah, that is sadly becoming a trend. I allow older units, I just ask that they look good and are kept in running condition. Here, let me show you around the park, and you can pick what spot you want.”

There were around a dozen available, and I selected one near the back under a large tree. I knew summers here could be brutal, so figured the shade would come in handy. She put an orange cone in front of it. “There, if somebody comes in for a week or less I will let them have it, but it will be open when you are ready. Let’s go to the office and do the paperwork.”

That took about a half-hour, and she told me that they indeed had both cable TV and phone service available for monthly rentals. I smiled, and figured it might be a nice way to spend my evenings. And I could also take care of business that way as well.

I got a room at the guest lodge on base that night, and after eating breakfast in the chow hall realized I had seen all I needed to see. It was just after noon when I pulled into the Valley, so drove over to see Peggy’s Uncle. He greeted me warmly, and said that my package had already arrived. He called over his mechanic, and in about 45 minutes it was installed.

“OK, see the clamp on the front of the hood? You raise the bar like this, and it will clamp in. This way if you just want to drive a bit while you are on the road, you do not have to remove it. Pull those 2 pins on the front, and the entire thing comes off. Only takes a few minutes, but doing it by yourself will be a bit tricky.”

I thanked him, and handed him $150 and his mechanic a $20, thanking them both for all they had done. “Pete, like I said before. You are family. We take care of our own, and I remember what you Marines did for us when we needed help. We were not your own, but you placed your lives on the line to keep us free, most of us will never forget that. That is why me and so many like me worked to come here, to be part of a country like that.”

I shook his hand, and said I would be back if I needed anything else. I got home just after dad, and he and Dee were both surprised to see me. “Pete, is everything OK?”

“Yeah, just great. Already got a spot picked out, toured the base, did all I needed in a single day. Even stopped and got the tow bar hooked up, so am all ready to go.” Of course after saying that dad insisted we go out so I could show it to him. We even practiced hooking the truck up to the back of the RV a few times, and he got a look I was very familiar with on his face.

He opened the garage, and came out with a wood dowel, a drill, and a long piece of wire. It took about an hour, but when he was done the dowel could be inserted into a hole he had drilled in the bumper, and the wire (which was stiff like a clothes hangar) would fit onto the top. With a few practice runs, all I had to do now was line up in a straight line, and pull forward until the tip of the wire (which he covered with red electrical tape) “kissed” the radio antenna.

Then all I had to do was walk out and drop the towbar. It could be set up or taken down in a minute, and fit nicely inside the holder for the sewage hose in the bumper.

I gave him a hug, and said that was a great idea. “Dad, you know what you should do? Sit down and work on this a bit, and try to get a patent. I bet others would love something like this!”

I saw him nod, and knew he would do no such thing. My dad was a bit of a tinkerer, but had no real interest in business in that way. But I made sure that night to mention it to Dee, and she said she would look into it.

On Wednesday I had lunch again with Becky, and we drove together to Peggy and Mike’s. Holly and Mandy were both there, as was Dan. We all exchanged hugs, and Dee arrived shortly afterwards. Soon everybody was there, and I handed out the character sheets. And Holly screamed when she saw the one I had handed her. “Like, oh my god, I’m Kaos again! Like, this is gonna be totally bodacious dudes and dudettes!”

Holly and Becky talked as I set up the camera on the tripod, and started filming the game. Then it was time for my surprise. I opened the box I that had arrived when I was in Yuma and put the contents on the table. It was a gray lead figure. “And this by the way is Kaos. It should be out by the end of the year, but this is the first sample run.”

Holly loved it. “Like oh my god, I’m an action figure!” And indeed it was Holly, it was based on one of Mandy’s drawings of her, and showed more than a passing similarity with my best friend. It was Holly’s facial features, with pointed ears. She was in robes, and had her right hand extended with a wand in it, a classic Kaos pose But visible on her waist was a second wand.

Dee looked at her character sheet and raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded. “Yes, you are playing Fiona, you know what is expected Dee.” She smiled and nodded. I wrote Holly a note, and she nodded so she would know when to come in. The party met Fiona at the crossroads, and of course volunteered to join her on her quest. The cleric in the group was of Thor, so she understood the importance of following the wishes of their deities. And although not a follower of Heimdall, he was a well respected God.

And shortly afterwards, they met Kaos. Holly was playing it to the max, and obviously loving it. And the next day, they started to meet the first of the undead. Skeletons, then zombies. Each group was tougher and tougher, and the wights were a particular challenge. Then they crested the pass and saw a small valley, with the temple in the center.