Round 85: The Long Haul, Part 8

[midpointmods]

PLAYERS: Rocket and Groot, Taako, Yoda, Jiro Azuma VS. Sam Wilson, Misty Day, Jo Harvelle, Sara Lance
LOCATION: Bank Town, the Ranch
GOAL: Keep hands on the cargo of the stagecoach travelling from Bank Town to the Ranch
WARNINGS: Attempted murder
OTHER: OOC post for plotting and questions!

The stagecoach isn’t ready for transport when the two teams arrive at Bank Town just before sundown, and the bank manager who is in charge of the shipment will only speak to someone on the driver team, so the bandits are shit out of luck even if they try to get to it first. There appear to be some delays, in fact, and the bank manager has many apologies, but the stagecoach isn’t loaded up with its cargo until noon the next day - as Bank Town has no inn, the teams had best find somewhere out of the wind to spend the night, whether by borrowing an empty house in the sparsely populated town or bedding down against the ravine walls.

There are two routes marked as safe for stagecoach travel on each team’s map: one that swings north following the railroad tracks and passing close to Midpoint, and one that swings south along the floodplains. It’s up to the drivers which path to take, and up to the bandits to guess the right one. It’s a breezy day: tracks won’t last for long. (The bandits might do well to check at Booker’s General Store before they leave.)

The stagecoach won’t make good time, burdened as it is, and the horses can’t run all day, but that’s why there’s a note on each route for the drivers on where to change horses. That might be a good place to wait out the darkness-- unless someone is foolhardy enough to drive the new team of horses all night. The cargo is due at the Ranch by the end of the third day, so there’s plenty of time... but there’s the threat of bandits to worry about.

Comments

[quitsmiling]

"Yeah, never said the goals were smart," Rocket grouses. "Just that they look good on camera. The audience is probably gonna laugh at this."

He bounces inside, now, and hefts at one of the crates. "And they ain't that light. They're made of wood. Pretty solid, from the looks of 'em. Gettin' these on the horses is gonna be a pain in the ass. Think we can drag 'em or somethin'?"

[elderflowermacarons]

"With a levitating platform, but that way we're either splitting the cargo or we have to rig something else entirely. Best idea is probably just use something bigger than a horse." He considers Garyl, but for all his raditude, the binicorn isn't actually any better at carrying stuff than your bog-standard horsey.

[quitsmiling]

"What, you wanna try and rope one of the buffalo?" Rocket asks. "Or you expectin' Groot to carry it all?"

"I am Groot," says Groot.

"Yeah, man, I know you can't." It may be that Taako has not confided that he's able to shapeshift into a giant terror-lizard yet.

[elderflowermacarons]

"That sounds rad, but no, we're good." Taako grips his silly umbrella, but transmutation is his game, and it doesn't call for any particular gesture or saying any dope magical shit beyond that. Some transformations are almost instantaneous, but the sheer size of Dupree extends the effect somewhat, extending the small, spindly, humanoid-ish elf into an immense ball of teeth and feathers with tiny, tiny arms.

When the shift is over, he's still wearing the pointy hat, but it looks comically tiny instead of ridiculously large.

[quitsmiling]

Still clinging to the side of the stagecoach, Rocket watches with an open mouth. It's like watching Groot grow, but at the same time very much not.

"Holy shit," he says once the transformation appears to be finished. "What the frick."

The shock turns into glee, and he jumps down, scampering over to make a cheerful attempt at climbing right up the now-dinosaur-formed Taako's leg, side, and up to his head. "This is freakin' perfect. Can you talk? How long can you stay like that? Can you carry stuff like this?" His arms are bitty, but maybe if they like wrapped it all up in Groot's vines ore something.

[elderflowermacarons]

The answering voice is louder and deeper (which, since Taako is excessively pitchy and mumbles half of what he says, is hard to avoid), but it sounds less like the voice that should belong to this towering monster and more like the same person talking at the bottom of his range instead of the top. It's a bit labored and unclear, though, talking through a mouthful of bone knives the size of bananas. "Spell lasts an hour, can do it three more times, better tie it on unless you wanna ride in my mouth, which is gross." He's done it. But it's gross.

[quitsmiling]

"Ew, no. And it's gonna probably take half that time to rig up something that'll stay put on your back and not fall apart when you change back."

He sounds all but gleeful, though. This is a great development. "Awright, let's start getting crates out! Groot, get over here and make us some vines."

"I am Groot?"

"Yeah, there's some rope on everybody's saddles, too, we can use 'em both."

[elderflowermacarons]

It might have made more sense to explain, construct some sort of cleverly re-usable harness, and then transform, but Taako isn't one to pass up a dramatic gesture for a practical result. Though maybe whenever he has to break he can transmute whatever they rig up into solid wood or something, make a more permanent rig. Ah, well, later. "Can't cast any other spells like this, homie, so let's not waste it, hmm?" It is hard to hmm evocatively when you are a dinosaur.

[quitsmiling]

"You're talkin' like I'm not a genius engineer and inventor, buddy," Rocket snaps, but not with and particular bite. "We'll get this set up, you just hold still so we can get enough vines and rope for you and the crates."

"I am Groot," Groot says sternly, and holds up his hands. Thick vines start growing out, clearly controlled and looping up over Taako's back, which Rocket jumps down from Taako's head to scramble down.

[elderflowermacarons]

"Nerd," is all the dinosaur mutters. Talking is difficult in this form, sure, but he's always willing to spare the effort to be kind of a dick. Otherwise, he puts his energy into hunkering down for rigging.