Stoke is Full of Mutants

Jolly Old Saint Nick - part two

The party silently followed Rose through the workshop, past the slaving boys, to the Other Ark's front door. They stepped outside, and Craig turned round to face Rose, telling her "Now is your chance sweet Rose, you may leave with us and be free of your father's evil machinations." Rose scoffed at his words, "What are you kidding? I can't bloody well wait to start my new duty!" She slammed the door in Craig's face, leaving him standing in the cold morning light with Flora, Gramslinger, Steve and Kara. Craig shrugged his shoulders, and smiled as he looked at his wife Flora. "Let's go home" he told them.

Kara looked at the snow-filled clouds above them and proposed that they follow the Sun, trying to find a less inhospitable route home. With Flora already starting to shiver, despite her refusing to put on her coat, it was agreed that a less chilly path to home would be preferable. Kara marched forwards, guiding the party through the crumbling ruins of what the Overseer had informed them was the area known as Tree Evil. It took some thirty minutes for them to leave the snow filled ruins and find land that was untouched by the virgin snow.

No longer feeling the cold, the party became aware that the biggest threat that faced them now was not the weather, but the beasts that roamed the wastes. With Kara's instinct protecting them from stumbling upon any deadly creatures, they traversed ruins overgrown with vegetation and reached an area that was filled with deadly rot. They marched onward through the ruins, coughing and spluttering as the rot filled their lungs. Steve was resistant to the rot, but his immune system had been weakened by the gut fish growing inside of him, leaving him just as vulnerable as the others. Steve put his underwear back over his head, Kara put her scarf over her mouth, and Craig lent his gas mask for Flora to use. The others had to endure the poisonous rot without any protection.

Eventually, the rot cleared and the party were able to breath fresh air once again. Kara spent the next several hours carefully guiding them through the ruins and deadwood of Stoke's central areas. It was difficult and at times painful walking, but they managed to safely reach Long Tong. With the Ark now in sight, a family of waste wanderers appeared. They seemed strong and healthy. They would make excellent slaves. Gramslinger called out to the family: "Hey, would you like to be slaves?" Flora elbowed him in the ribs as the family's patriarch turned round and shouted back "what?" Flora's shrill voice called out "Nothing, we're just asking if you'd like to join us at our Ark, we can offer you safety and food."

The man's face opened up into a big smile. He motioned to his wife and teenage daughters to follow him towards Flora and the promises she made. Suddenly, a great swarm of rats appeared from nowhere and immediately enveloped the family, carrying the screaming offspring away into the sewers. The woman's agonised screams were traumatizing to the ear as the rats ripped her flesh apart. Within only minutes the whole family had disappeared amid the swarm of rats and down into the sewers, leaving only blood behind. Steve commented "This keeps happening". Craig replied, "yes, it's really annoying". The party walked on and reached the safety of the Ark, just as night was falling.

Craig held open the front door of the Ark as his party walked inside. The residents of the Ark quickly gathered around them and began to pepper them with questions. Boss Marlot, pushed her way past the crowd and her voice boomed out: "Come now, let our heroes have some room. Now instead of overwhelming them with questions, why don't we show them what we have been working on in their absence?" The slaves were angry that Marlot used the term 'we' to describe what had been their labour alone, but they knew it would not be wise to voice their frustration. Marlot pointed outside the front windows to show a small stump. "What does it do?" Gramslinger asked. Marlot beamed, "it's a sundial!" she informed him, "we can use it to keep the time and ensure the slaves are working hard enough". The slaves were again angered by her words, but their spirits were broken and they knew that complaining was not in their best interests.

The party agreed that the sundial was a very fine looking invention. Steve was particularly impressed, and the invention briefly distracted him from the thoughts of his hunger pains and stomach irritations from the equally hungry gut fish. The Elder, showing his age, limped towards them and dismissed their concerns of his health and he inquired only of their success or lack or in forging a trade deal with the Other Ark. Flora proudly reported of the terms of their trade, and the Ark residents were delighted to hear that they would soon be given new slaves who could be put to work building new projects to improve the Ark.

Flora continued to talk, explaining the tale of how the party had reached the Other Ark and she told them of the sickening wonders of the Overseer. Craig noticed that Flora tended to exaggerate her own involvement in the story and embellish many of the details, though he did not correct her as she told of how the beautiful Rose had fallen in love with her but was prevented to leave out of a sense of duty to her father. The party shared out the cookies they had brought back with them and surprised the residents by explaining that the secret ingredient was human flesh. Steve boldly stated that he though that the Ark should take up cannibalism themselves. The Ark was divided over the issue, however, and the Elder ultimately disagreed, saying that he did not think it was a healthy food source and that the long-term health effects were not yet known.

Craig excitedly gave a graphic account of the Overseer's private rooms, explaining how he was able to produce children. Flora had been too embarrassed to talk of such things and excused herself when her husband started to talk of what the Overseer put where and who with and how many times. The residents were amazed, as many had not realised that such enjoyable activities could produce children. Much debate ensued as to why the Overseer was able to produce children. Perhaps only a father and his child would produce more children, the Elder theorised. Though this raised the question of how could a child be produced if there were no fathers to begin with - a chicken and egg situation. In the end, most concluded that the Overseer must have mutant abilities. Whatever the case, the whole party agreed that the Overseer had been a thoroughly nice man and they were confident that the Other Ark would prove to be fine allies.