CHRISTIAN
I think when we left off I was unconscious in a ditch as the Dutch police finally fucking showed up to chase off the guys in the ambulance.
JUSTIN
After you shoot one of the two gunmen, you feel a dull pain on the back of your head. Everything goes black.
CHRISTIAN
…as everything fades to black, you hear the unmistakable sound of finally fucking sirens in the distance.
JUSTIN
Well, you hear another car approaching.
CHRISTIAN
Well, that’s something at least.
STEPH
hello all I’m on
JUSTIN
OK, here’s the situation. In addition to the one-page background I gave you, your father is Cmdr Stephen Fisher, US Naval Attache to Holland. For the past few days he’s been pretty nervous, telling you about a friend of a friend who’s coming to town that he has to show around. Earlier this morning he asked you to meet him at the Amsterdam Museum to introduce you two.
STEPH
Okay
JUSTIN
When you showed up, there was a crowd of policemen around. Your father told you to get in the car, that his friend had vanished, and you went tearing through downtown Amsterdam after an ambulance.
STEPH
I get in the car “Father what has happened!?”
JUSTIN
“My associate Cormac, the one I was telling you about… he’s been shot!”
After some time you come to the countryside where your father loses the ambulance, but reacquires it shortly by the side of the road with another car parked nearby. As you approach several shots ring out.
STEPH
I don’t want to go anywhere near the gunshots unless someone is dying.
JUSTIN
You’re still in the car, but your father slams on the breaks. All of a sudden the other car speeds off with two bodies in the road.
STEPH
Is anyone moving?
JUSTIN
Yes, one of the two bodies is moving.
Your father drives up to the scene. As you get closer he shouts out “Cormac!”
STEPH
“What can I do to help?”
JUSTIN
“Help him with his wounds!”
STEPH
I’m rushing over to help him…
JUSTIN
Do you want to make a first aid roll?
STEPH
I’m looking on obsidian portal. yes
I have 16 I rolled an 8.
JUSTIN
Steph is performing first aid on you. Can you coordinate?
CHRISTIAN
Not if I’m unconscious.
JUSTIN
No, I mean can you personally figure out how many hit points she healed.
CHRISTIAN
I already had first aid performed on me, and I don’t think you can do it more than twice on the same set of wounds, so let’s just say I’m still at 8.
JUSTIN
Make an HT roll to see if you reawaken then
CHRISTIAN
11. Pass.
JUSTIN
Wait, I thought you had to roll less than 10.
CHRISTIAN
My HT is 11. I hit it. Unless there’s a negative modifier.
JUSTIN
Disregard, that was Steph’s character. OK, you come to, to find this stunning brunette hovering over you.
CHRISTIAN
“Wer sind Sie?”
“Und wo sind sie geblieben?”
STEPH
“I’m sorry but I don’t speak German. How many fingers am I holding up?”
CHRISTIAN
Do you want a PER roll?
JUSTIN
Sure
CHRISTIAN
8…pass. How many fingers IS she holding up?
JUSTIN
How many are you holding up?
STEPH
Two
CHRISTIAN
“Two…who are you, and where did they go?”
While she’s typing an answer to my question, I’m going to look around for my pistol on the ground.
JUSTIN
Make a PER roll
CHRISTIAN
Another 8.
JUSTIN
You see your pistol, along with two cars. One is the assassin’s banged up vehicle, the other is another car with Fisher standing next to it. You see a small covered object just next to the road. Just off the road are several overturned carts, with about a dozen pedestrians hiding behind them. In the distance you can hear sirens and see other vehicles approaching.
CHRISTIAN
I’ll pick up and holster my pistol, then check the object.
STEPH
“They went that way, but you’re in no condition to move. Get in our car and let’s get you to a hospital.”
JUSTIN
You see the man (you assume he’s Cormac) pick up a pistol off the ground. Near the road is another car with the back right tire shot out. You also see a small covered object just next to the road. Naturally you also see the dozen pedestrians hiding as well as the approaching Dutch police.
STEPH
“I think we should go. This looks and sounds like there might be more problems coming.”
CHRISTIAN
“Hell no. The Dutch police are exactly who we want to talk to right now. If nothing else, I’ve got to give them a description of the two that got away.”
(to Fisher) “Fisher? What are you doing here?”
JUSTIN
“When I saw you get into the ambulance, I thought I’d follow you to the hospital. When they drove out of the city I got suspicious. I’m glad I showed up when I did.”
CHRISTIAN
“Well, glad you did. What’s this?” So, what’s the object?
JUSTIN
It appears to be a small black statue wrapped in cloth.
CHRISTIAN
I’ll pocket it.
JUSTIN
It’s about a foot tall, but you get it in your coat.
Steph, you see Cormac pick up a small black object off the road, give it a quick examination, and put it in his coat.
STEPH
(To Fisher) “What is going on here?! Father, who are these people? What kind of friends walk around shooting people and falling out of vehicles?”
JUSTIN
“I don’t know my dear. Cormac, what happened?”
CHRISTIAN
“The attempt on Van Meer’s life was just misdirection. It was cover for an abduction. Help me check their car.” I’ll pop the glove box for any maps or evidence those idiots might have left behind, then I’ll check the trunk.
STEPH
“Okay. Are you sure you feel up to moving around like that?”
CHRISTIAN
“It looks worse than it is. If it was that bad, I’d be spitting up blood.”
STEPH
“Very true.”
JUSTIN
Do you have any searching skills?
CHRISTIAN
No, what’s it default to?
JUSTIN
IQ-5
STEPH
I help.
CHRISTIAN
6…think IQ is 12, plus whatever I get for Steph assisting. Yeah, got it.
CHRISTIAN
“Someone gave these numbskulls a good plan, but they messed it up…hopefully they left some evidence too.”
JUSTIN
There’s blood on the back seat, and another bullet in one of the windows. You find some brochures about the Amsterdam Museum, including one with an elderly man’s picture circled. You also find a map of the area with a town a few miles away from Amsterdam called Uitgeest circled.
STEPH
Did I recognize the guy from the picture?
JUSTIN
Make an IQ roll.
STEPH
I rolled 16. That’s right on the money, yes?
JUSTIN
Yes. It’s Albert Van Meer, a Dutch archeologist/researcher. You remember he had something to do with the conference your father was going to.
STEPH
(Looking at the brochures) “I recognize that man. That is Albert Van Meer.”
JUSTIN
The police have arrived.
CHRISTIAN
I’ll flag them down.
JUSTIN
A Dutch police captain is talking to you.
“Wat doe je? Wat is er gaande?”
CHRISTIAN
“Sie haben Van Meer entführt. Ich denke sie sind nimmt ihn auf Uitgeest. Ich kann Ihnen eine Beschreibung von ihnen.”
Can I just roll IQ? Or does this guy speak any German?
JUSTIN
To translate directly? Sure.
CHRISTIAN
12. I hit my IQ, but barely.
JUSTIN
Understand it, yes. Speak it, badly.
Fortunately Fisher comes over to translate.
CHRISTIAN
Great. I’ll give the captain everything we found in the car, and an executive summary of the events. Plus a description of the guys I saw.
JUSTIN
OK, Eva gives you the items and you give them to the police. Roll PER for the description, and IQ for the event summary.
CHRISTIAN
Okay, IQ 13, so narrow failure.
JUSTIN
And PER?
CHRISTIAN
PER is 4…woot.
JUSTIN
OK, so you give a drop-dead description of the assassins and the ambulance. Your story is a little confusing, so halfway through the police just leave.
STEPH
I am trying to talk quietly with my father.
JUSTIN
He appears to be translating for Cormac and the policeman. They’re going on in some foreign language if you want to try to translate. Cormac is wildly gesturing and telling some type of story. The police appear to have heard enough and are leaving.
STEPH
I’ll ask my father again if he saw the circled picture of Albert Van Meer.
JUSTIN
“Yes, I see him, but I still don’t understand exactly what happened. We were supposed to buy some African artifacts from him when he was shot.”
STEPH
“Oh, well then…um…why do you need African Artifacts?”
CHRISTIAN
“We should go back to the Dutch police in the city and give them more details. Otherwise they’ll blow off heading to Uitgeest.”
JUSTIN
“How about we take you to a hospital first?”
CHRISTIAN
“I don’t need to go to a hospital.”
STEPH
“He looks fine as is. Besides, what if they’re gone by the time the police get there? Not that I want to get shot but we could contact the police there.”
CHRISTIAN
“I’m not so fine that I want to go after them. The best we can do is find a phone and call ahead to Uitgeest. Stephen, can you handle that?”
JUSTIN
“Sure, but where do you intend to go now?”
CHRISTIAN
“First, let’s get to a phone. I’ll explain more about what happened on the way.”
STEPH
“That sounds like a plan.”
JUSTIN
Fisher agrees and you all get in the car and drive off.
“Neither of you have been properly introduced, have you?”
CHRISTIAN
“No, now that you mention it.”
JUSTIN
“Eva, this is Cormac Payne, a friend of a friend. I’ve been asked to help him out while he conducts some official business in Amsterdam. Cormac, this is Eva, my daughter.”
STEPH
“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Payne.”
CHRISTIAN
“Pleasure to meet you. So, Stephen, what do you know about what happened at the museum?”
JUSTIN
“I walked inside when I heard a commotion, followed by some gunshots. I saw you grappling with some man down in the road and then shoot him. Then you and Van Meer were loaded into an ambulance and left.”
CHRISTIAN
“There was an assassin…actually more of a kidnapper I guess…waiting on the steps in the crowd. He was posing as a photographer, taking pictures of everybody there, including us. In the commotion of the crowd, he tried to shoot Van Meer and slink off unseen. No idea what he shot Van Meer with, but probably not a legit bullet. Or, if it was, they had a good plan to stabilize him right away. I spotted the gunman in the crowd and tackled him while he was trying to get away. I got him to drop his gun, which we should go take a look at, and he stabbed me once before I killed him…or nearly killed him. He had a getaway car waiting for him with two more people in it. One of them shot him, then they drove off in that banged up car you saw back there. I went back to check on Van Meer and they were loading him in the ambulance. I figured I’d save time by riding with him.”
JUSTIN
“Wait, they shot him?”
CHRISTIAN
“He wasn’t going to make it to the car. I’d already put a bullet into him. Guess they didn’t want him talking to the police. The police should have his body, his camera, and his pistol from the scene, so we may need to talk to them about what they’ve found. In any case, the two paramedics in the ambulance were part of the plan, and they injected Van Meer with something as they drove out of the city. Probably some kind of sedative. No idea why they didn’t knock me out then. The getaway car met the ambulance outside the city, we had a brief standoff, and I killed one of them. The others escaped, probably to Uitgeest.”
JUSTIN
“Why would they want to kidnap Van Meer? Why would they want to fake his assassination?”
CHRISTIAN
“I haven’t had long to think about it, but I can’t think of a reason. Maybe for something he was carrying on his body…when we were in a cab yesterday, he showed me an artifact he had in his pocket. Of course, if that was it, they would have just killed him and taken it when they had him in the ambulance.”
JUSTIN
Make an IQ roll.
CHRISTIAN
11. Got it, unless there’s a penalty.
JUSTIN
No, in fact there was a mod in your favor, since you just recognized that the artifact he showed you is the one you just found on the road near the scuffle.
CHRISTIAN
Ah, didn’t know it was so big.
JUSTIN
You drive back to the nearest town and find a phone. You make a call to the police. Fisher says he has urgent business to attend to and asks what you want to do next.
STEPH
“I would rather stay with the two of you if that’s alright. I don’t any work right now anyhow.”
[to my father]
JUSTIN
“I have some urgent business to attend to, so would you be able to watch Mr. Payne for the remainder of his stay in Amsterdam?”
STEPH
“Do we need to make any kind of arrangements here for you before we drive to the next town, Mr. Payne?”
CHRISTIAN
What time is it?
JUSTIN
It’s about 1:43 in the afternoon.
“Let’s head back to the museum and see if the police have come up with anything.”
STEPH
“agreed”
JUSTIN
“I can drop you off at the Museum, no problem.”
OK, so about half an hour later Fisher drops you off near the museum. Both roll PER.
CHRISTIAN
16
Fail.
STEPH
14
pass by 2
JUSTIN
There is a crowd by the museum.
STEPH
“Are we sure this is a good idea? Does this have anything to do with you and earlier?”
CHRISTIAN
“If by ‘anything to do with you’, you mean ‘did I kill a man here in the recent past’, then yes.”
I hope the keystone cops have at least set up a barrier around the scene.
JUSTIN
She wasn’t here this morning, it’s an honest question!
CHRISTIAN
She was in the car for my recap to Fisher. Was there something especially fascinating outside the window that distracted her from my tale of staged murder, kidnapping, and intrigue?
JUSTIN
Even still.
As you stand around, a policeman comes by and gestures to move along.
STEPH
“Excuse me sir but I am doing research and I need to get inside”
Can I make a diplomacy roll?
JUSTIN
“Neem gaan waarbij”
Of course, if you can pass the language barrier.
“Mr. Payne could you translate please?”
CHRISTIAN“Ich war hier während der Schießerei. Ich möchte eine Erklärung mit der Polizei-Datei. Und sie hat die Forschung nach innen tun.”
STEPH
Now can I make that roll?
Or at least add to his since I’m batting my eyelashes?
“Wat schieten?”
CHRISTIAN“Von Van Meer.”
JUSTIN
“Wie?”
CHRISTIAN
“Albert Van Meer.”
JUSTIN
“Ik weet niet wie dat is.”
CHRISTIAN
“Können Sie mir einem der Polizisten, die hier an diesem Morgen?”
STEPH
[quietly ask] “what is he saying?"
CHRISTIAN
[aside] “He’s saying he doesn’t know about a shooting or who Albert Van Meer is, and I’m asking for one of the cops who were here this morning.”
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