# Broncosaurus Rex: The Inheritors story hour



## Virginia Wilde (Jan 9, 2003)

I scribbled down the events and characters from the last campaign I ran, one I dubbed "The Inheritors." I was going to write a story around it, but I just have a lot of things to do. I've got the synopses of the campaign sessions, however, and I think I'll post them here for all to see and shake their fist at me for being such a crass, condensing writer.

In the first epsiode of our little story, we meet three protagonists out of six. It was great that the other three players were out that first day. It's short, but the session was a lot longer, having lots of rolls and "pseudo-combats" as the three tried to escape the crazed aggressor.

Here we go......
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Brendan McNichol, a 16-year old orphan who has lost his legal claim to his father's land, travels to New Savannah to sign the deal that will place it in his Uncle's possession. However, during the trip and after leaving the courthouse, he spots a pretty girl about his age wandering the streets. Deciding he needs a break from the day's errands, he promises his uncle he'll return later on to help purchase supplies.

Meanwhile, the girl has reached the spaceport and is watching ne of the ships from an observation deck by herself. She's reminiscing about all the places she's been, wondering which one she's from, and all the planets that may hold the answer, as well. She idly talks to the oviraptor with her when Brendan approaches. He attempts to introduce himself fails miserably.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you," she says, and turns away.
He tries again.
"That's a strange looking dinosaur," he tries, stuttering.
"It's an oviraptor," she says, shrugging.

Luckily, before he can fail any further, the spaceport is assaulted by a metallic, crab-like monstrosity piloted by a mysterious man in white labcoat. He chases the pair down, smashing through buildings and streets, until he finally corners them. The scientist demands the girl be turned over to him, and Brendan refuses. They run underneath the legs of the machine and leap into a nearby car with a shadowy figure inside.

The figure turns out to be a velociraptor, and the pair are frightened for a second, until the girl, with a puzzled expression, shakes him. He's asleep, but quickly wakes up.

"Drive!" she yells, and the creature stares at her.

Brendan points at the rampaging robot behind them, and the raptor turns, stares unblinking for a moment, and instantly complies, peeling out from his parking space with practiced ease. Brendan notices something quite disturbing about the raptor: it has cybernetic thumbs.

He sees the reason for the thumbs quite quickly as the mechanical crab bursts out of a building in front of them and the rapotr pulls the emergency brake. Turning almost on a dime, the raptor's mini jerks away, executing a mad ride through the new savannah streets. After a long chase, they leave the spider machine in the dust, heading onto the open road.

As they drive, the girl seems to become quite sullen. When Brendan asks, she says her name is Belle, and that she was traveling with a carnival. She can talk to dinosaurs, apparently, and the scientist is after her for that ability. She can't go back to the carnival, and she's quite upset. Brendan says she can stay at his place until this whole thing blows over, and asks the velociraptor if he can give the pair a lift. He shrugs, says "Rev," and lights a cigarette, rolling down the window as he does, adding, "can't go back. City. Police. Broke traffic laws. Thirteen."

Belle smiles and laughs at this, and Brendan leans back as Rev's driving speed evens out. 
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Part two introduces two characters and grants a name to the evil scientist out for Belle. But is he the true villain?
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Having just escaped the still unnamed mad scientist and his neckless henchmen, the three heroes make their way north past Fort Apache along Bay trail towards the McNichol homestead. Brendan tells Belle to cheer up, as they've gotten "clean away" from the men chasing her, and they haven't seen them in hours. When she frowns and lays down in the back seat, Brendan leans over and asks Rev something quietly. After a few moments of hushed conversation, he turns around and asks her, "if you could go anywhere, where would you go?"

Belle replies that she'd go to her birthplace, but she doesn't know where that is. Brendan and Rev look at each other oddly, then back at her. She explains that she has amnesia and doesn't remember where she's from. She's called Belle because of something someone said when the carnival folk found her wandering the jungle. She talks about the places she's been, and mentions that she's never been to the crystal desert.

Rev suddenly shifts to a higher gear, and when the two humans ask why, he points to an object matching their speed just on the horizon. It's the crab machine, and a look through the binoculars confirms it. It suddenly lurches towards them and quickly comes into easy spotting range. On the rough trail, it easily overtakes the mini and latches onto the bumper. Rev screeches in anger and pulls a lever on the dash, disconnecting the bumper and pulling away. He clenches his teeth and, looking back, pulls a second switch, causing spikes to emerge from the mini's hubcaps, pushing its speed to over 60 miles an hour.

Eventually, the car runs out of gas just about a half mile from the McNichol farm. Rev is sad to leave the mini behind, but does so under the promise of more gasoline. Once home, Brendan attempts to get his aunt to let his friends stay there, but she will have none of it, especially with the prospect of having two "wild animals" in the house. As he leaves, Brendan notices Belle wandering off and rushes after her. She thanks him for his help and apologizes for being so much trouble, and says she doesn't want to bother anyone any more. He protests, and says that she can stay at his house, which is just down the road.

Brendan's house is a converted barn with rooms and a loft. When he wakes up in the morning, he smells breakfast cooking and notices Belle fixing some greens and fish. She gives the fish to Rev and her oviraptor Spot, and eats the greens herself, offering some to Brendan. Brendan feels a little sheepish at this, but Belle reassures him that it's for repaying him for help and putting up with her. Halfway through breakfast, Rev grumbles and looks out the window. Brendan reassures him that there's some gas out back for the car. He shakes his head and points.

"Not good," he says, and the sound of an all-too familiar engine comes from down the road.

The gang escapes out the back and begins running with the backup gas in their arms. They clear the half-mile as the crab searches over the now ruins of Brendan's house. In the midst of refeuling, however, the crab shows up, and the scientist begins yelling ultimatums at the children and dinosaur.

Suddenly, however, a shot rings out. A lone gunslinger stands in the road, his pistol smoking and duster billowing in the wind. He introduces himself as Chuck Reed, gunslinger extraordinare, and chides the scientist for picking on poor children. The scientist seems upset, and another person steps out, leveling a giant weapon at the crab device.

"I'm sure you know my associate," says Chuck, " a Miss Melinda Barnes. She don't take kindly ta thieves."
"Hiya, Dr. Freus," she says, pulling back a lever on her gun.

Dr. Freus swallows and frowns as Melinda pulls the trigger, sending a wave of electricity over his vehicle. Melinda's gun shorts out, and she throws it away, panicking. The weapon explodes, and the two arrivals make a mad dash for the car. The crab device shudders for a few moments as the two new arrivals shout for the children to go. Rev needs no coaxing and grabs the kids, tossing them in the front and back seats and pulling away just as the crab tank stands. Dr. Freus howls in frustration.

The mini peels away, Rev in too much of an excited mood to tell where he's going. When the gang pulls over, Chuck and Melinda introduce themselves and state that they were after Freus for some equipment he stole from Melinda. Unfortunately, it didn't look like he had it, and the crab tank was too much of an advantage. They gang decides to travel together when Belle and Brendan mention that he'd be back. They also notice that they have no idea, after Rev's panicked driving, where they are, but they hope they're close enough to some patrol lanes to be spotted eventually.

Unfortunately, the car is stuck in a ditch, and there are dark clouds gathering overhead.


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