Into the Past part 2

From Soloralwiki

• the party enters the hospital in Apolytown and talks to a girl at the desk*

Clerk: Goodness! She’s unconscious. What’s wrong with her?

Jason: We don’t know. She just collapsed.

Clerk: Get her into this chair. I’ll call for a doctor.

Jason: All right. Thank you.

• the party plops the unconscious Amy onto a chair in the waiting room*

Bill: I’m really worried here guys.

Jason: I wonder what’s wrong with her.

AI: It seems that affecting the future has done Amy some sort of physical harm.

Bill: Because we kidnap-

Matt: Shut up! We’re in public, idiot!

Bill: Oooh yeah. Because of what happened tonight?

Matt: Probably. Maybe because of other things too.

Jason: If something like that can hurt her, I don’t think the doctors will be able to help.

Bill: Don’t say that!

Matt: Yeah, we don’t know. They might be able to do something for her.

Nurse: *approaches* This is the girl? Sorry, we’re short-staffed right now because of the war, so can you guys help carry her to an examination room?

Jason: Right.

• the party carries Amy into a nearby room and places her on the table*

Doctor: Thanks for your help. We’ll examine her now. You can wait in the waiting area, but it might take some time.

Jason: Okay.

• the party returns to the waiting area*

Matt: Guys, I’m going to have AI do some medical scans of her. She should still be in range of the waiting room here.

AI: Affirmative. This will take most of the night though, so I suggest you find a hotel room to sleep the night in.

Jason: Okay. It’s been a really, really long day anyway.

Bill: I don’t want to leave her.

Matt: AI and I will be here watching over her.

Jason: Come on Bill. Let’s go rest up.

Bill: All right…

• Jason and Bill sleep the night in a hotel an return in the morning*

Clerk: Oh, you’re here to visit the blue-haired girl? She’s in one of the patient rooms down the hall.

• in the room, Amy’s still sleeping on a medical bed*

Matt: Mornin’.

Jason: Hey. What’s up with her?

AI: My sensors have detected no internal injuries or known germs or viruses. Nor in any of you.

Jason: You scanned us too?

Matt: I’ve had AI scan us since we arrived in the past. I wanted to make sure we didn’t pick up some plague that has been eradicated in our time or something. We’re all healthy, but…

Bill: But?

Matt: I don’t know to explain it, but Amy’s readings make me uneasy?

Bill: She’s sick or something?

Matt: No, no, everything’s fine. But there’s something about them that is nagging at my mind.

Jason: What is it?

Matt: I’m not sure. I’m not a doctor or a biologist or anything, but I’m getting a weird feeling.

Jason: And you can’t explain it better than that?

Matt: No.

AI: I do not agree with Matt’s “feeling”. All of Amy’s systems are perfectly normal.

Matt: Maybe I’m just really tired. I don’t know.

Doctor: *entering* Ah good, you’re here.

Bill: How is she?

Doctor: She’s fine. A few scrapes and minor bruises, but nothing that would hospitalize you. She was talking last night and seemed normal. I think she just needed a good night’s rest.

Jason: Huh.

Doctor: We don’t have the room to let her stay here though. I’m going to wake her up and get her into her normal clothes. Please wait outside.

• back in the waiting area*

Jason: *to the Clerk* So, what do we owe you?

Clerk: Huh? No, the clinics are free in wartime by decree of King Ming XIV. We’re funded by the royal treasury directly.

Matt: Really? That’s surprisingly progressive.

Clerk: Yeah? I guess it is.

Amy: *walking in dressed in normal clothes* Hey guys

Bill: You’re okay!

Amy: Of course! I’ve got a bit of a headache, but I can walk. I’ll be okay.

Matt: Any idea what happened?

Amy: Nothing like this has ever happened to me. If I had to guess, I’d say it had to do with what happened last night.

AI: We arrived at the same conclusion.

Amy: Please be more careful, for the future’s sake as well as my own.

Jason: I’ll try.

Matt: Let’s go meet up with the others in Epoli Town. We have to figure out what’s happening here.

• the party travels to Epoli*
• the safe house is empty except for Lori*

Jason: Hey, where is everyone?

Lori: Oh, you’re here.

Bill: Hey, how are things?

Lori: Bad. Evan von Christoph betrayed us. His men attacked our group en route to Epoli.

All: !!!!!

Matt: What! What happened?

Lori: They attacked us on the outskirts of town, but we fought them off. Stodlum and Mryin got away with the king. I stayed here to see if you’ve arrive.

Matt: Could this be part of the Imperials’ plot too?

Bill: We have to go after them!

Amy: Ugh, the time stream is getting more muddled. My head is aching.

Bill: Hang in there, Amy.

Amy: We really need to be more careful when dealing with past events, Jason. This is probably our fault.

Jason: Hindsight is 20/20.

Matt: Hindsight?! I warned you every step of the way.

Jason: Demsosian. Laser. Technology.

Matt: That was a mistake, but unlike you, I learned from it.

Jason: Get off my back.

Lori: Wait, stop fighting. You’re not making any sense. What are you talking about?

Bill: Wow, you really are dense, aren’t you?

Lori: Excuse me?

Bill: Don’t you get it yet? You haven’t figured out who we are?

Matt: Bill…

Bill: Bah, I’m telling her.

Matt: When time itself explodes from our meddling, I hope there’s a footnote that I tried to stop it.

Amy: I agree with your stance on these matters, Matt.

Matt: Thank you Amy! At least someone does.

Lori: Who you are… ?

AI: Try as we did, we were unable to properly fit in with your society at this time. My own self is entirely unmistakable, but even the rest of our group should have given our identity away.

Matt: Damnit AI, not you too.

AI: Her knowledge of our motives would do nothing but benefit us at this stage.

Amy: At the unknown cost of risking further timeline contamination. I can’t agree to that.

Lori: Excuse me.

Jason: AI’s right though. We’ve gone off of the history pages since we, like, changed history. We can’t do this all ourselves.

Amy: With the way things are going, we‘ve likely done more damage than the Imperials have.

Jason: Gee, I’m so glad you feel that way, after recruiting me on your little scheme to alter history. I don’t need this, you know. I could go home and forget about this far-off dreadful future.

Amy: Perhaps that would be for the best.

Lori: HEY! Will you guys shut up a moment!

Bill: What!

Lori: I‘m not as dumb as you guys think I am. I know who you are.

Matt: Then who are we?

Lori: You’re time travelers from the future fighting the Imperials here in our time. You’re from Pinkaria, except they call it Jasonia again, right? Does it fly in the sky like it used to?

All: !!!!!!!

Matt: How did you…?

Lori: I’m not deaf, hunny. You’ve been talking about the future like it’s already happened. I guess my future is your past.

Amy: And the Imperials?

Lori: Gee, you guys only have mentioned that name every five minutes for the past couple days. I wonder where I picked it up from?

Jason: And Jasonia?

Lori: You called it Pinkaria “Jasonia” when we first met. It hasn’t been called that since it lost the war to Audentior back when the kingdom was first being established. I’ve been thinking about that one for a long time.

Bill: And the flying?

Lori: That was a total guess. How’d I do?

Matt: I have to admit, that’s impressive.

Jason: Well, can you guess my next question?

Lori: You want to know if I’ll join you guys.

Jason: Will you?

Lori: Maybe. There is a lot you’re hiding from me. And you argue like children. We need to have a long talk. But not here and not now. We have to go after Evan before they get too far ahead of us.

Jason: So you do want to join up?

Lori: For now, at least. If the king is as important to history as you guys are making him out to be, you need my help. And I need you to save my friends. So we work together.

• Lori joins the party, despite what she says, permanently*

Lori: The Emperors have a second safe house in Elifantopoli. It’s a small town across in the United Demesos of Ultimatia. We’ll have to cross the border up north. Stodlum’s group probably bribed the border guard to get across. I don’t think we have enough money to do that, so it may get dicey.

Jason: Dicey is sort of what we do.

Empress: Right.

• leaving Epoli*

Matt: Jason… I want to apologize for some of the things I said back there.

Amy: Me too. As much as I’d like to blame the headaches, it is my fault and I’m sorry.

Jason: Some of the things you said were justified. We came into this far too blind and I’ll admit I haven’t exactly been stellar on making good decisions lately.

AI: At the moment, our primary concern is to determine the cause of the damage and if we can repair it.

Amy: I’m convinced that it can be repaired still. The timelines are strong; it takes major events to reshape them. The king lives, so he can still sign Lord Conglacio’s treaty.

Jason: Then our goal will be to find out information and not do anything major until we understand the repercussions of our actions.

Matt: That’s what I’m talkin about.

Bill: So we’re all good then? Because some of the stuff you guys said a bit ago was scaring me.

Jason: Meh, we’ll get over it.

Lori: What a wonderful little dysfunctional group you guys have here.

Jason: You have no idea.

• at the border crossing*

Lori: The border crossing is a series of buildings that house soldiers and supplies and stuff. Most travelers go down the center, but since we don’t have the papers or the money to bribe them, that would be suicide.

Jason: I’m not really in the mood for suicide at the moment.

Lori: Me either. The complex is well-guarded, but if I go ahead and sneak around, I might be able to help you guys through.

Matt: Isn’t it dangerous to go at this alone?

Lori: Absolutely. But I’m stealthy and you guys… aren’t. I’ll be okay.

Jason: If you run into major trouble, come find us and we’ll escape together.

Lori: Right. Watch for me.

The party will consist only of Lori. The player has to complete various stealthy activities such as climbing a wall and finding a rope to help the others get up, deactivating an alarm system, building a makeshift bridge from one building to another, etc. Each time she completes a task, the rest of the team advances a little bit to another safe hiding spot. Being spotted by a guard gives the option to fight or flee. They’re decently hard fights, but not impossible. The key to them is to use Lori’s abilities to weaken the enemy before she gets too beat up. If Lori wins a fight, the guard is knocked out for the remainder of the scenario. If she loses, her unconscious body is tossed off the walls and she has to start from the very beginning. Fleeing from the guard takes her back to the CoD team’s hiding spot and she can try the current objective again.

• Finally, on the other side*

Jason: Nice work, Lori!

Lori: All in a day’s work, sugar! We’re in the United Demesos now. The safe house is in Elifantopoli, a small town to the west. Let’s hurry.

The United Demesos consists of Elifantopoli, Alycon, and Ultimate Palace. The guards at the place deny entry. Trying to enter Alycon says it looks like a major naval battle is taking place there. The only accessable town at this point is Elifantopoli*

• at the safe house in Elifantopoli*

Lori: Stod, love!

Stodlum: Lori! Ah, and the hired help. You made it.

Lori: How was it?

Stodlum: … Evan’s men took the king. I was heavily outnumbered and escaped. I thought Myrin was with me, but I think they took her too.

Lori: Stodlum…

Stodlum: I know. I failed. As soon as I realized what happened, I went after them, but they didn’t wait around. They crossed into Blackrock. I

think they’re heading for Telsoun.

Bill: Telsoun? The small province to the far southwest?

Stodlum: Yeah. Technically it’s Ultimatia-controlled, but it’s so remote as to be neutral. If you want to set up a deal like ransoming a king, Telsoun is the place to do it.

Lori: At least you’re safe.

Stodlum: For what it’s worth. Lord Conglacio isn’t going to like this.

Jason: What?

Bill: Jason! He’s the one who negotiated the treaty that ended the war!

Jason: I know that, you idiot.

Stodlum: Treaty that ended the war? Not yet. It’s still a proposal. But he’s been pressuring the king to negotiate a peaceful end of the war. No luck yet.

Jason: Yes, well, but why won’t he like this?

Stodlum: Because Myrin’s a hostage with Evan’s group.

Jason: I’m lost. Lord Conglacio knows Myrin?

Lori: Know him? I’d say so, sugar. They’re engaged.

Bill: WHAT?!

Stodlum: Lord Conglacio knows of our group and Myrin’s role in it. He’s a silent supporter of ours. He worries greatly about her and wishes to have a quiet wedding, but Myrin won’t have it until the war is over.

Lori: That girl acts silly, but a heart like few others. She won’t give up what she believes in for anything.

Matt: And if something should happen to her…

Stodlum: He’d flip. He’d absolutely lose it. He’d throw himself into his work to try to avenge her.

Jason: I see. Stodlum, however you can, contact Lord Conglacio. Tell him that Myrin and the king are in Telsoun and to meet us there. We’ll find our own way there by following Evan’s footsteps and see what else we can learn.

Stodlum: With the king kidnapped, getting into Airosamente will be insanely difficult.

Lori: You’re the best, aren’t you?

Stodlum: I guess I am. All right, I’ll leave at once. Save Mryin. Rescue the king. Kill Evan.

Lori: Will do.

• Stodlum leaves*

Matt: Doesn’t this violate our plan of acting without information?

Jason: Don’t judge too quickly. We have information this time. Remember when we saved Myrin from being attacked in Epoli? Her death was the catalyst that ended the war.

Bill: Because Lord Conglacio, overcome with grief, redoubled his efforts to persuade the king to end this senseless war.

Jason: Exactly!

Lori: She told me about that attack. If she’d been injured or killed, we’d never have pulled off the kidnapping.

Matt: So our saving her life had far-reaching consequences.

Jason: Don’t say “I told you so.” I know you did. We need to get past that point and work on repairing it.

Matt: And your plan?

Jason: Lord Conglacio. If he helps rescue the king, that’s bound to win him some favor in the royal courts. Maybe enough favor to get a treaty signed.

Matt: Hmm… this is actually starting to make sense. I wish you'd talk it over with us before making decisions though.

AI: But we must make sure that is how events play out. We need to get to Telsoun ourselves.

Lori: That won’t be easy. Getting into the United Demesos was easy because their security sucks…

Bill: It’s true, I admit it.

Lori: … but getting into Blackrock and through Automatica is another matter. Both checkpoints will be well-defended for sure.

Jason: Well, what do you suggest? You’re the rebel here.

Lori: Blackrock is currently occupying Automatica. Their allies, the United Demesos, must be sending them supplies across the river. If we head to Alycon we might be able to find a way across the river directly into Automatica, bypassing both checkpoints.

Bill: Alycon is the United Demesos’s major shipyard and one of our largest cities. There should be an opportunity there.

Jason: It’s getting late. It’s been a long day of traveling. Let’s stay the night then worry about crossing the river in the morning.

• a good night’s sleep lets the party continue the quest*
• upon entering Alycon, it’s clear the town has taken battle damage*

Matt: Whoa, this place has seen better days.

Nearby man: Those Audente dogs bombed the town yesterday before the Demesosian navy managed to beat them off. We’ll make them pay tenfold for this!

Bill: Alycon was the pride of the United Demesos in this time period. Our navy, far than the Audente navy, has managed to defend Lake Christoph against nearly impossible odds. After the war, Alycon became a very powerful city later on until the UD collapsed.

Jason: Sounds like you have a little bit of hometown pride.

Bill: Absolutely. My ancestors got their start here as officers before my family became part of the upper class.

Lori: Anyway, let’s see if we can find a way to cross the river.

• Alycon, despite the damage, is large and fortified with many military posts. Most of these are impassable to civilians such as the party. It becomes clear all civilian ships aren’t running. Finally, they meet a middle-aged man in one of the merchant districts talking to another man*

Man: Damnit, man, you have to do this for me.

Other man: No way Garreth. I have a life here. I’m not running off into a war zone.

Garreth: It’s for my son!

Other man: I don’t care who it’s for! I’d never get to Temoe alive. We’re friends, but this is suicide!

Garreth: But-

Other man: Forget it! Things will be fine! I gotta go! *leaves in a hurry*

Garreth: Ugh. If this damn leg hadn’t crippled me, I’d go myself.

Jason: Excuse me…

Garreth: Mm?

Jason: You need someone to go to Temoe?

Garreth: Yees… ?

Jason: We want to head that way ourselves but it doesn’t look like civilian boats are open.

Garreth: They’re not. Temoe, you say?

Jason: Yeah.

Garreth: I need to run an errand of supplies down to a man in Temoe. If you do this errand for me, I’ll give you some merchant papers that will let you board a ship out of Alycon.

Jason: Seems fair.

Garreth: Here are the supplies. The man you’re going to give them to us Lachi Dusch. He should be easy to find there; he’s an officer in the occupying Blackrock army.

Bill: !!!

Matt: !!!

Jason: Ahh, okay. We’ll be sure he gets them.

• Garreth heads inside*

Bill: Lachi Dusch!

Jason: Relative of yours, I take it?

Matt: He’s a war hero! They actually renamed his birthplace town to Lachia in honor of him.

Amy: Than you’d better be careful when you meet him. We don’t want to change his history by saying anything unusual.

Matt: Hey, who do you take me for, Jason?

Jason: Cute. Let’s get on that boat.

• The military checkpoint guard accepts the team’s papers and they get on the boat. It’s full of soldiers and other people hauling supplies. It

sails partially down the river and lets the team off in the middle of Automatica.*

Lori: This is a major war zone. Blackrock has occupied the plains but the Automatics of Djugagrad are fighting fiercely to reclaim it. We’d better be careful. Don‘t be afraid to run!*