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The burning man lurched forward, closing in on the group.
Zaliphone quickly picked up a stone and rocketed it towards the man in an attempt to stop him. The stone collided with the burning man’s groin, bringing him to within an inch of his life. He let out a howl, the inferno consuming him taking on a new surge of intensity.

“WHERE ARE THE FUCKING TACOS?!” Arjahn Mjakhim had leapt in, ignoring the pain in his leg. Emulating Zaliphone’s tactic, he picked up a decently sized rock and threw it towards the man who was now all but obscured by the fire.
The rock was expertly thrown, but didn’t anticipate the erratic lurching of the burning man. The rock therefore merely glanced off the man’s right knee. Nonetheless, a crunching sound let the group know that he had been hit enough to slow him down.

***

The crosshairs were scanning the wreckage, going over bodies, twisted metal beam and fires. A movement to the left caught the attention of the crosshairs and they moved sideways to get a better look. The shadowy figure that was controlling the crosshairs was lying amidst a tuft of grass at the top of a dune, some way away. It turned a dial on its hunting rifle, clicking the image back into focus. A ball of flames was running towards a group of three people. No. Four people. One of them was lying on the ground. Dead? One less to worry about…

Two of the group had started hurling rocks at the ball of flames. A strange tactic, which somehow seemed to work. Strange. There must be something sentient in that inferno. As that thought crossed the shadow’s mind, a small bearded figure ran in, fists raised. How strange… Attacking a ball of fire with fists... It clicked a few more dials to zoom in on the scene. The shadow saw the small figure run in towards the fire. The bearded fellow threw a punch, but was beaten back by the sheer heat of the flames. These people must be suicidal… Being in this land with no real weapons… Time to end this.

***

“What was that supposed to be!?” shouted Zaliphone. “You don’t go hand-to-hand with a big-ass ball of flames!”
Mary Cow was too busy putting out the flames that had singed her beard to listen.
“What are we going to do with him?” said Mjakhim, as the burning man continued stumbling towards them, its right leg dragging uselessly behind.
Before a plan could be made, something whistled past his ear, causing the burning man to be propelled back, his head snapping clean off.
The group looked around, searchingfor the source of the attack.
“Good thing whoever made that shot can’t aim,” said Mary Cow. “We can’t do much against snipers out here in the open.”

“Oh trust me,” came a voice from somewhere around them. A smoky shadow rose from the ground, a hunting rifle emerging from the darkness. “If I were to have aimed for you, you would all be dead. Maseo Katana never misses…”

Zaliphone and Arjahn Mjakhim throw rocks in an attempt to stop the burning man. Mary Cow goes in with her fists but is repelled by the flames. A bullet flies past them and decapitates the burning man. The group wonder who it is - a question switfly answered as a shadowy figure emerges from the ground.

BATTLE - Burning Barman - Controlled by: SERIOUSLY THOUGH
- Strength - 8 (-4 burning damage) - 4
- Accuracy - 4 (-4 burning damage) - 0
- Endurance - 10 (-4 burning damage) - 6
- Agility - 7 (-4 burning damage) - 7
- Luck - 1 (-1 burning damage) - 0
- Intelligence - 3 (-3 burning damage) - 0
- Stealth - 7 (-4 burning damage) - 3

Health - (2ST + EN) = 14
Status - Burning, loses 2 health per round.

Ok so a little more on attacking stats before this ‘science’ section – 0-4 is a critical fail, 17-20 is a critical hit. The success and strength of your attack will be determined by the Random Number Generator (RNG20). Your luck will determine how little or how big that critical bracket is (but for the time being, we’ll keep it equal for everyone).
Attacks will be the stat you use to attack + 1/2RNG + any critical hit bonus + weapon bonus.
Also, for now, your attack strength will be determined on your ST or AC. If the current battle system works, I’ll factor in your ST or AC into the RNG to determine the success of your attack (instead of the success only being determined by an RNG that is, as the name suggests, totally random).

Zaliphone – Uses AC attack – RNG=18. Critical hit.
(AC+1/2RNG+LK+Weapon)-EnemyEN = (9+9+1+0)-6 = 14
Burning Man – HP down to 1. Status change=’adrenaline fuelled insanity’. Enemy now immune to any form of pain, and can only be stopped by physical barriers (e.g. decapitation). HP hits that don’t cripple now have no effect.

Arjahn Mjakhim – Uses AC attack – RNG=7. Moderate attack.
(AC+1/2RNG+Weapon)-EnemyEN = (10+3+0)-6 = 7
Burning Man – Attack cripples leg but has no effect on HP due to enemy's current status. HP=1

Mary Cow – Uses ST attack – RNG=13. Good attack.
(ST+1/2RNG+Weapon)-EnemyEn = (10+6+2)-6 = 12
Burning Man – Attack does not reach enemy. HP=1

Out of battle event. Burning man HP=0. Burning man deceased.

Zaliphone -
What do you do ?
Arjahn Mjakhim -
What do you do ?
Mary 'Moo' Cow -
What do you do ?
Alex Starfade -
What do you do ? (You can now wake up when you choose)
Haseo Katana -
What do you do ? Answer me via PM (as you are currently an encounter and therefore give your actions in secret so that the group aren't influenced by your decision)

The group stared at the newcomer, unsure of what to do next. The man calling himself Haseo Katana still had his rifle trained on them, his finger a hairbreadth away from setting in motion the next shot in his barrel.

“Now see here,” started Arjahn Mjakhim. “We have no idea where we are, why we’re here, and who you are, so do you really think we’re a threat?”
“OF COURSE WE ARE,” screeched Mary Cow. She raised her fists, the hair on them still burning from the previous encounter, and charged.

The others did not move, but rather watched with mild bewilderment as the bearded imp threw forward her left fist. Haseo Katana swung his rifle, bringing the butt round to counter the blow. The fist was easily deflected and Katana went in for a counter using his right knee. He didn’t see the blaze of Mary Cow’s right fist, careering towards his jaw. Springing backwards, Haseo Katana lashed out again with his rifle, knocking Mary Cow backwards. She rolled, saved from injury only by her beard. “Really? Is this how you treat me? You're my guest, act like one,” said Katana. Arjahn Mjakhim pulled Moo back, sitting on her to stop any further struggle.

“Where the schlompert are we?” queried Mjakhim, disregarding his companion’s protests and trying to bring the conversation back to a diplomatic level.
“You have a bizarre way of speaking, masked man,” replied Haseo Katana. “I’ll tell you more, but we will have to retreat to a safer place. I’m surprised the Apoteosi aren’t here yet…”
“We won’t be able to move fast,” said Zaliphone, who had been quietly observing the newcomer. “One of our number is down.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said the shadowed man. Indeed, Alex Starfade was beginning to stir. He groaned and rolled to his side, clutching at his ribs.
Zaliphone kneeled down next to him. “Don’t move. The aircraft crashed and we’re about to learn where we are.”
“Why… what… I feel like going home round about now,” groaned Starfade, scrunching his eyes and stretching.

“You will not be in a fit state to go home if you don’t move,” said Haseo Katana.
“And who are you to give us orders like that?”
“Someone whose word you shall trust if you want to survive.”
“Fair enough…” answered Starfade doubtfully, pulling himself upright. “Let’s go.” And the five of them started off towards some distant, tufted dunes. The landscape was desolate.

The sun was starting to rise, bathing the environment in a red glow. All around was a grassy desert, the various patches of grass yellow and febrile. The dunes rolled all the way to the distance to the North and East, and a sea could be seen far off to the South and West. The burning carcass of the airship was now to their left as they walked towards the rising sun.

“I think you can explain to us exactly what’s going on,” said Mjakhim. “Are we in danger? We’re not even from around here so who would want to harm us?”
“Well for one,” replied Katana, “we’re in danger for as long as we remain on the sand. My enemy has the advantage on this terrain. We need to go past those dunes over there and reach solid ground.”
“Enemy?” enquired Starfade?

“First, you should know where you are,” said the shadowed man, “Welcome to the beautiful island of Orsic. A name that was found on a damaged sign when man first arrived here about 100 years ago, probably an artefact from before the harvest... When the first settlers arrived, a government was formed to rule over this island. For a while, everything seemed to be going well, there was some harvest-worthy land and the settlers were self-sufficient. Then came the Apoteosi. They arrived in secret and placed their numbers among the various settlements on the island. At the beginning, no-one knew they were here. They slowly built their influence, spinning a web of power across the land. The first signs of their true nature was discovered when most of the local leaders from the following generation turned out to have the same subtle differences in their mannerisms compared to the settlers. Some of our people started becoming suspicious, joining the dots and working out that something wasn’t right. I was born in a family of these suspicious people, and was taught to identify those who were so similar to us, but who were somehow different. As my generation started to grow up, those who had had doubts were now certain something was wrong. The careful balance of the government was now in the hands of these strange people. We don’t know how they did it, but over three generations, they infiltrated the administration and are now in power. Most people don’t believe that they are outsiders… or rather, they don’t want to know. People have disappeared. People who said too much. So now, we’ve gone underground... to investigate, to find out the truth, and to eliminate the threat to our island and its people. I’m taking you to our council. They will know what to do with you. If you are worthy, you may be allowed to join our ranks...”

Mary Cow, who had been listening in silence, suddenly interjected. “But who said that we wanted to be in your little fungroup? I just want a way off this terrible place.”
“As long as there are tacos, I’m good,” added Arjahn Mjakhim.

Haseo Katana ignored them and continued, “In our many years of investigation, we’ve found out that they’re looking for something. They refer to it as a ‘key’, though we don’t know what it is exactly.”
He was interrupted by the ground, that had begun shaking beneath him.
“BURROWERS,” shouted Katana. “RUN!”

The five of them sped off towards the next set of dunes. The ground around them was vibrating and mounds could be seen coming towards them. Three forms erupted from the ground, surrounding the group and showering them with sand. They were forced to stop by three men, their sand-coloured armoured clothing culminating in a drill on their heads. It would have looked comical had the situation not been so unknown and dangerous to the four outsiders.

The group tensed…

Haseo Katana is part of a resitance movement against the Apoteosi, an unknown group that has infiltrated the Orsic government. The group (with Alex Starfade, who has woken up), go off towards a safe place when they are attacked by burrowers.

Zaliphone -
What do you do ?
Arjahn Mjakhim -
What do you do ?
Mary 'Moo' Cow -
What do you do ?
Alex Starfade -
What do you do ?
Haseo Katana -

I charge full on at the enemies. Pulling on of the burrow enemies out by the head and start punching.