Book Eight, Chapter 47: Familiar Grounds

We scouted the storyline as best we could from the boat.

There was no mention of it in the Atlas, but using my old Location Scout trope told me that the storyline took place over a long trail, with places called Terradome Calver’s Bay, Miller’s Crossing Outpost, and Terradome Mountain Seat as major settings, along with various other stops along the trail that didn’t have names and barely had descriptions like hitching post or old well.

While the names of the shooting locations weren’t entirely useful, they did paint the storyline as fairly straightforward sci-fi, which aligned with the poster and its hazmat suits.

After we found the remains of an old water tower jutting out of the swamp near the Omen, where we could tie the boat, we started working through our strategy, which was not a long conversation. Look around. Make a plan. Execute.

Another short conversation was whether or not we should even continue in our current course.

Antoine, for one, was all for it.

“You say it’s high difficulty?” he asked after we had gotten the boat secure.

“Yes,” I said.

“Good,” he responded as he looked out over the wetland terrain. “If we’re going to risk our lives, there had better be rewards on the other side.”

I wasn’t even sure if he cared about getting to Ramona and the others so much as he cared about leveling up so we could eventually save Kimberly. At least he had the decency not to say one way or the other. It made things less complicated.

Cassie, of course, was all for it because by every indication we had, the only way to continue on the path toward her brother Isaac was to run this storyline. She didn’t talk much. As soon as we got the boat in place where it wouldn’t float away, she immediately began using her I’m Blocked trope to try to figure out what we were dealing with.

At the time, I was skeptical that it would work, but it would still be useful information. All signs pointed toward science fiction, which could entirely exclude psychic abilities or incorporate them as mutations or evolutions.

Only time would tell, and until it did, she sat on one of the front seats of the boat with her eyes closed.

“So how about you two?” I asked Anna and Camden.

“Sci-fi is a place where a scholar can shine,” Camden said. “I mean, even if I disagreed with taking on a challenging story based on nothing but a hunch that it’ll open up the right pathway, it’s not like I could say it, right? I’d already be outvoted.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said.

“Well, I am a team player,” he said.

“And you?” I asked Anna.

She was contemplative, maybe a little scared like the rest of us.

“I’m ready,” she said eventually.

“Good,” I said.

We took the opportunity to rest while we waited for Cassie to finish scouting out the storyline.

There were odd cries from the swamp around us, and there were quite a few times, as I tried to get some shut eye, that I would wake up to a strange rumbling sound and wish that we could just pull out and go back on the river. But then there were plenty of dangerous things that direction too.

What I really hoped was that this storyline would have a long Party Phase where I could get some rest.

“I hear you. Go ahead,” Cassie eventually called out. “You sound faint,” she added later. “Can you repeat that? We can send assistance soon.”

“I don’t know why we always watch her like we’re going to learn something from only her half of the conversation,” Camden said.

“At least it’s entertaining us,” I said. “And she might try to float away again.”

Cassie continued on for a while, sounding like she was talking to someone over the radio. She kept saying things like “you’re breaking up” or “over and out,” as if she were trying to squeeze out a few more drops of dialogue from whatever entity she was speaking to by playing along with the theme.

It was a bit strange that the psychic entity she was communicating with was talking to her over a radio. The connection she was supposed to make was more mental, but she sounded like a dispatcher having trouble contacting someone in the field.

“We will send supplies,” Cassie said. “Just hang tight.”

Then she tensed up like she heard a high-pitched noise and said, “I’m blocked.”

“So what do we got?” Antoine asked, not giving her a moment to think about it.

“People in a settlement asking for help,” Cassie said. “They said that their communication equipment was almost down and they needed evacuation or maybe resupply. I couldn’t quite tell.”

I looked out over the wasteland. Her information, combined with my knowledge that there was a long trail involved, started to paint a real picture.

“Wait a second,” Camden said. “Wasn’t she supposed to be talking with the enemy? Isn’t that how her trope works?”

“It sure is,” I said, “and it’s also supposed to only work in storylines that have psychic or supernatural power, and yet it sounded like a perfectly mundane cry for help.”

We discussed our thoughts on what we had just learned, and then we did our best to rest for a few hours. But there was no putting it off forever. We were trying to track down Ramona and the others, which meant time was of the essence. They could be moving, and if that happened, we might lose our chance to intercept them based on the path that the magic cue ball was taking us.

We climbed down from the boat onto the only solid land available, which led us to the strange device that served as the Omen for this storyline, called Familiar Grounds.

Triggering it was actually quite simple. We just had to hit the red button. That was a pretty familiar action by that point.

And so, as we stood there, we all looked at each other in the dim light under the overcast sky, and then Antoine reached out and pressed it.

–

Riley Lawrence is The Film Buff

His aspect is Filmmaker. The Filmmaker understands how movies are made and uses meta-Insight and meta-Rule tropes to subtly manipulate the environment, relying on high Hustle to stay unseen while shaping the story behind the scenes.

Riley has a Plot Armor score of 46, Mettle of 4, Moxie of 13, Hustle of 7, Savvy of 15, and Grit of 7.

Free Background Trope: “My Grandmother Had the Gift…” A background trope that gives Riley’s character some ambiguous connection to “The Gift” through his heritage.

Current Trope Limit: 10

“Trope Master” grants him the ability to perceive enemy tropes, but at the cost of sacrificing half of his Plot Armor.

As an “Oblivious Bystander,” Riley remains untargeted by enemies as he convincingly acts oblivious to their presence.

“Escape Artist” buffs his Hustle to help enact plausible escape plans.

“The Insert Shot” makes allies aware of an object the player chooses. The object will be shown to the audience and its use will be buffed in the Finale.

“Just Out of Shot” allows him to see ‘cameras’ when sneaking near an enemy to avoid being seen.

“Cutaway Death” sends him Off-Screen before the moment of his character’s implied demise and allows him to exist behind the scenes Written Off if he survives the encounter.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Call Sheet” gives him a timer for when he will be On-Screen next.

“Raised by Television” buffs the user to do one big meaningful action if they establish their inspiration from film and television to establish it.

“Props Department Requisition” allows him to requisition story-appropriate props.

“Intermission” Grants Deathwatch at his demise and allows them to pause their viewing of the film for a break and start back a few moments earlier.

~

Camden Tran is The Scholar

No aspect has been chosen.

Camden has a Plot Armor score of 36, Mettle of 3, Moxie of 3, Hustle of 9, Savvy of 16, and Grit of 5.

Current Trope Limit: 10

“Eureka!” helps him find important information within text.

“Right Tool for the Job” buffs Savvy and Mettle when fighting an enemy with their weakness.

“Zippos are Cheap” boosts Savvy for plans that expend a Zippo lighter.

“Hide and Seek” allows him to use Savvy for Hustle in a chase with lots of hiding involved.

“Photographic Memory” allows him to display visual information committed to memory on the red wallpaper and recall information he has seen, even if he didn’t focus on it.

“Battlefield Intuition” allows him to use Savvy to perceive enemy combat tactics.

“Sweat, Blood, and Chalk” buffs his Savvy and Grit when he is Scathed, Hobbled, or Mutilated.

“Red Thread Theory” gives the user a visual summary of known information and helps them know what threads to follow next.

“Fall Like Dominos” buffs the user’s plan based on how well they represent it visually when pitching it to the audience.

“Bury the Lede” guarantees he finds a “smoking gun” clue once he has collected enough complex or unimpactful pieces of evidence to solve the case.

~

Antoine Stone is the Athlete.

His aspect is Health Nut, which prioritizes holistic wellness, using sharp Savvy to make smart choices and strong Grit to stay resilient, adaptable, and enduring under pressure.

Antoine has a Plot Armor score of 42, Mettle of 13, Moxie of 4, Hustle of 9, Savvy of 8, and Grit of 8.