Forced RPG 2: Project Gsekai

[Xenoe]

"Wait, I think we should deal with the approaching people first,"

Cory describes what he saw to the group.

"Do we want to wait for them, run, or maybe... ambush them?"

[The Lord Kelvin]

"Why not be proactive in diplomacy and approach them instead of waiting or running away. I'd also be sure that trying to force them to eat fruit would be a bad idea, so please refrain from doing that."

[SilkScarf]

"Why thank you, good friend. My name is Jose. What's yours?" Jose says, gratefully accepted the fruit and giving it a good sniff to savor the aroma. Hopefully it hasn't gone bad in the sweltering sunlight.

[Xenoe]

Cory records the process of Jose eating the fruit, if he does eat it.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Jose sniffs the fruit. It smells...fruity? The aroma isn't sweet, but it's not bad either as far as he can tell. It doesn't seem to have gone bad or rotten.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

[auto-advanced]
The two camel riders encounter a strange tableau as they draw close: A dandy gentleman with slicked back hair in a fitted suit and tie frozen in the middle of sniffing a cactus fruit; a tan skinned man in normal worker garb watching the gentleman with phone in hand, apparently waiting for him to do something. And Vincent and the cosplayer who are staring right back.

The two camels stop about 20 feet away from the party, who can see that the lead rider is swathed in brown and white traveler's robes. He takes off his hood to reveal the face of a man in his mid-thirties, with light brown hair and a medium length beard. He jumps down from his camel, landing gracefully on the sandy ground with a soft crunch.

"Hello there!" he calls out in a jovial tone. "I am Samad al-Hyeedus, an explorer by trade on the way to great adventure. Who might you, uh, fine folks be?"

[dinasemrys]

"Hello, I am Vincent Li. We appear to be lost in this desert. Could you perhaps point us in the direction of the nearest settlement?"

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Samad nods. "Well met Vincent Li. I feel for your plight, as I've often gotten lost in strange lands myself. As for the nearest settlement, I'm afraid you may be out of luck. I came here from the city of Dadgrabah, some three days' travel in that direction," he points to the North. "I've also heard tell of a Redwan sietch that is only, hm, a day's travel from here, but they do not take well to foreigners."

He turns to his companion, the other rider. "Oh, and this is my assistant, ah, would you like to introduce yourself?"

[Kaede]

"The names Tomoe, pleased to meet you."The other rider is average hight has a brown hat covering thier head and wearing a light grey suit and pants with a red undershirt and a backpack slung over thier shoulder. What appears to be a handgun is holstered on thier right side. "Seems like y'all are like me and here against your will."

[The Lord Kelvin]

"You may refer to me as Jamar. Jamar Singh. Would it be accurate to assume we all come from earth?"

Jamar's fingers are raised and curved to produce air quotes as Jamar says 'earth'.

[SilkScarf]

After savoring the delicate aroma of the fruit, Jose tenderly bites into it, applying a soft suction to siphon any juices out of the fruit, lest they spill on his suit.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Jose's mouth finds the fruit's inside to resemble that of a watermelon, stiff yet juicy and filled with seeds. Strangely enough the flavor reminds him of a supreme pizza, with something subtle mixed in that sends tingles down his tongue. Cory gets his reaction on camera.

"I don't know about 'earth', but I'm originally from Sarudan, which is separated from this region by a country or two," remarks Samad.

[Xenoe]

"Uh the names Jason, in case you guys got a side job as a voodoo shaman or anything like that," says Cory, "I think Samad know what he's doing better than us, so I guess following him would be a good idea until we can get outta this place."

[Corenat Rovarnus]

"I don't know what you mean by 'voodoo shaman', but I understand if you don't wish to share your full name, Jay's son. We've only just met after all." Samad's eyes light up at Cory's suggestion. "Ah, but what a splendid idea! I'd love for you to accompany me on my great adventure, I could always use more assistants. You see, I've come all this way south in the hopes of finding the mythical Cave of Plunders, which is said to hold a great treasure inside. So, how about it?" he asks everyone.

[Kaede]

As everyone is already talking Tomoe pulls out thier phone and checks what the mission is.

[The Lord Kelvin]

"h-oh? I haven't heard of this cave of wonders. Could I ask you to tell us about it?

[Xenoe]

"it's the past participle version of the cave of winders, heh"

[The Lord Kelvin]

"Pardon me, I meant the Cave of Plunders."

[dinasemrys]

"I am from Earth. What is so special about this cave of plunders for you to travel so far?"

[Corenat Rovarnus]

"Tomorrow" sees on their phone that the current mission is to index the Kazant desert region, with categories for flora, fauna, architecture, and groups of interest.

Living organisms can be dissected for a more thorough indexing. Keep the appropriate tools handy so you don't miss an opportunity! 

"Ah, I have done much research on the Cave of Plunders, but I'll try to keep it short." Samad raises his hands and enters an expository mode.
"Several centuries ago a great and terrible empire ruled these lands, erecting many buildings and monuments in their glory. These Dakavids, as they were called, boasted many warriors in possession of fearsome arcane arts and superhuman abilities. You've probably heard this kind of tale before, but as far as we can tell their sudden downfall was brought about by dabbling in forbidden magicks, things mortal man was not meant to know.
Most of what the Dakavids built has turned to dust along with them, save for one place: The Cave of Plunders. I have reason to believe that this structure alone has survived the test of time completely intact, due to an ancient preservation enchantment placed upon it. Buried beneath the sands, it has sheltered the artifacts of a lost civilization to this very day, for masters that will never return.
I seek a particularly powerful artifact known to be housed within the Cave, a canopic jar made of pure crystal."

[Kaede]

ooc: I hate auto correct.

[Xenoe]

"Uh, so, are you sure we won't die of thirst or hunger before we even get there?"

[Kaede]

Tomoe tries to go to the google shopping to requisition survival tools.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

@Kaede You find a plethora of goods and services available on Google Marketplace, but most of them are from third party sellers who are not able to deliver to parallel worlds as of this time. You still have access to all of your finances back on Google Earth, so you can still order anything you'd like as normal and it will be ready at your residence upon your return.
Undaunted, you filter out these sellers and see that Big Papa G does offer a 'starter kit' for new Verse Crawlers that can be requisitioned once per person.

"Of course I'm sure!" Samad waves away the concerns of 'Jason', pointing out his heavily burdened camels. "Truth be told, I brought far more provisions than I needed. You see, I had expected much more people to sign on with me back in Dadgrabah, but Tomoe here was the only one who did. Everyone else thought I was a fool, and that my search was in vain. But we'll show them, won't we?"

[The Lord Kelvin]

Jamar sticks the foam replica shortswords into the backpack and presents Samad with a thumbs up.
"I admire your passion. I'm with you."

[Xenoe]

"Alright, seems like the beeest option we have, I'm in as well," says "Jason".

[Kaede]

After ordering the package tomoe types a message to big papa g: 'If I can get samples of the world's currency to you, can you make some to support us with a weekly stipend?'

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Tomoe is informed that this is not possible, as it "could interfere with the world's economy in ways we cannot predict."

"Excellent, welcome aboard you two!" Samad turns to Vincent and Jose. "And what about-"

Tomoe gets a push notification announcing the starter kit's arrival, and a Google loading animation pops into existence nearby. After making one cycle it is replaced by a much smaller version of the starting zone container, each side a different color. With a hiss the box unfolds, revealing its contents to be everything one needs to get started in survival mode:

• a wooden pickaxe
  
• a wooden axe
  
• a wooden shovel
  
• a wooden hoe, to complete the set
  
• a Phillips head screwdriver, which is thankfully not wooden.
  

Samad is momentarily stupefied. "By the gods, what sorcery is this?"

[Xenoe]

Cory starts indexing everything around him, including Samad with his phone while everyone is thinking deeply about the future.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Cory has already indexed most of his surroundings save for the newcomers, so he focuses on them. He gets a push notification that he has now met 1% of his quota.

Samad al-Hyeedus grows more confused. "What are you doing, Jay's son? Was that sorcery of your doing?"

[Kaede]

"I asked the god Google for a boon and it seems like it gave it to us some tools for our journey."

[The Lord Kelvin]

"I see you're unfamiliar with the smartphone, Samad. Where we come from, practically everybody has one of these. These devices are strictly non-magical and are primarily used to allow communication with others. It is also used to instantly record photographs or videos... photographs that capture multiple moments in time, if you will. Allow me to demonstrate".

Jamar produces a smartphone from the red coat's pocket, moves next to Samad, and demonstrates the camera feature by snapping a selfie with Samad.
Jamar makes sure to pose with a peace sign and duck face for the selfie.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

The explorer is awestruck, seeing every feature of his face replicated on the Singularity's 5 inch XHAMOLED touchscreen. "To capture a moment in time... I have heard of artifacts that can do this, but none so easily and perfectly as your... smartphone. Perhaps I ought to be exploring your lands instead."

[The Lord Kelvin]

"Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that, my passionate friend. I'm not certain how I ended up here."

[dinasemrys]

Noticing Cory, Vincent realizes that he should be indexing things.

He begins to index everything around him with his phone.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

I realize I didn't explain how indexing works very well, so here's the official take:
Your phones have a telemetry unit that automatically scans and indexes the surroundings at regular intervals without you having to do anything. This is passive indexing, and "XP" from this is shared equally among VCs in the same area. Passive indexing occurs on a superficial level and is not thorough.
Active indexing is when you put in effort to analyze a particular item or area in detail, which may involve activities like taking pictures, hashtagging, or even writing a report on it. Active indexing nets additional XP but only to the ones who performed it.
Once something has been actively indexed it's been fully indexed for everyone, so you won't get XP from scanning something that's already been indexed unless circumstances have changed such that new information can be gained from the process, such as encountering an unknown creature and then later being able to dissect its corpse. I will of course have the final say on whether something is re-indexable.

Back to the game...
Since Cory has been indexing the immediate surroundings in some kind of zealous frenzy ever since the spawn container went down, there isn't much else that Vincent can contribute, at least not staying where he is. 
"Blast. It sounds like such an interesting place." Samad is disappointed, and falls into deep thought. "I suppose if I had one of those I'd be doing the same as Jaysson over there." He looks to the east and sees the structure. "Say, do you folks know what that is?"

[Xenoe]

Cory describes what he saw on maximum enhance to Samad.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

"Blackened ruins? Sounds like an old fort. Perhaps there is more left of the Dakavid civilization than I thought!"
Samad gets back up on his camel and points eastward. "Alright, my fellow explorers, let's go check out those ruins."

Rolling d2: 1

[Corenat Rovarnus]

For those that follow Samad:
The camel clops forward for a bit, but about a minute out from the starting zone it stops. "Hun, what's the hold up?"
There appears to be something buried in the camel's path, a mound roughly larger than a Roomba. A pale orange tail and claws protrude from the mound, blending somewhat with the sandy backdrop.

[The Lord Kelvin]

Jamar takes a picture of the orange creature and keeps the camera at the ready to take another picture should the roomba sized creature emerge completely.

[Kaede]

Tomoe draws the pistol and shoots at the creature twice.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Bang, bang! Feuer Frei!

Rolling 2d6: 3 + 2 = 5

Rolling d3: 1

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Tomoe has that handgun out lickety-split, squeezing off two shots from camel-back. The first bullet hits the mound, sending up a spray of sand and blue blood. The second misses, impacting the ground nearby.
"SCREEEEEEEEE!!!!!" The creature shrieks and bursts out of the mound. Through the lens of a camera Jamar beholds its full form: a bright orange scorpion with large, vicious looking mandibles.
Startled by gunfire and the scorpion's emergence, Tomoe's camel lets out a shriek of its own. It thrashes about in panic and Tomoe is thrown off onto the ground.
"Oh shit!" exclaims Samad, struggling to control his own camel as the scorpion scuttles towards them.

[Xenoe]

Cory shits into his hand, and slings the shit at the scorpion's eyes.

[The Lord Kelvin]

Upon noticing Cory's shamefurrrrr dispray after the shocking violent turn, Jamar's voice squeeks up in surprise.
"Whaa-"

Jamar pauses for half a second before resuming in the normal tone of voice.
"What the fuck is going on here?"

[Kaede]

Getting up Tomoe sets the gun to semi-auto and fires a three round burst at it.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Having vacated his bowels in fear, Cory quickly sticks a hand down his pants and digs out some of his excrement. Fortunately it's....consolidated enough to throw, which he does.

Rolling 1d10: 10

[The Lord Kelvin]

Quickly ensuring the picture of the creature has gone through the indexing procedure, Jamar pockets the phone and plugs each ear with an index finger.

"WERE YOU A COP OR SOMETHING? WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?"
Jamar shouts over the shots and the sloshing of shit.

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Against all odds Cory's shit hits the scorpion smack dab in the face, splattering its eyes with fecal matter. "Screee?!?" It starts flailing around blindly in no particular direction.
Tomoe gets up and does a quick dusting off before firing a burst.

Rolling 3d6: 2 + 2 + 5 = 9

[Corenat Rovarnus]

Tomoe's second shot lands a solid hit on the disoriented scorpion, which lets out one last shudder before it falls over and stops moving.