bump
You feel a pinch, then numbness as the drug sets in, and you succumb to it.
§
§
You wake up in a steel cage with a litter pan, a water dish, and a bowl with dry protein cereal (cat food).
Judging by your surroundings, it is now night time (meaning you see even better than you do in the day), and you are in some sort of science lab; not the mixing chemicals kind, but the dissecting animals kind.
The wires are a mesh of criss-crossing links.
You catnap the remainder of the night after eating and drinking, and wake as you hear the doctor approaching.
"Excellent, you're awake," he says. "I'll need you awake for this."
He puts on a pair of large leather gloves, an apron, and a metal faceshield, then opens the cage.
He carries you to a table similar to the last you were on and attaches the chain to it.
You hear people running and loud banging sounds like slamming doors.
He walks to a set of tools.
Muffled shouts join the people scurrying noises.
He picks up the scalpel and returns to where you are, grabbing you by the scruff of the neck painfully.
The door is kicked in, and several people rush in. "Humane Society, this is a raid, drop your weapon," one of them says. All of them are dressed in black down to their face masks and are armed.
The doctor drops the blade and puts his hands up. One of the humans removes the collar from you.
He picks you up and tosses you lightly toward the door.
"Run," he tells you, "you're free!"
"You don't know what a mistake you're making," the doctor tells him, and another pistol whips the doctor in the face.
You follow your equipment vectors over cover of darkness.
During your travel, you're aware of several small game animals; the smell of the live prey makes your stomach growl.
You catch and kill a rabbit.
There is a greater depth of flavor, but it doesn't really compare to cooked food.
Early in the morning, you arrive where your equipment is.
Most of it isn't terrible.
Any specific idea for about how you'll move it or set it up?
You manage to get your duster over the bulk of your equipment.
What sorts of signs are you looking for, and what qualifies as a large predator?
Having not smelled the animals, you can't really tell whether the smell of urine is from a bear, canine, or other animal.
There are a few places marked by felines, rodents, and humans.
Scriff vectors?
Nope, nada.
You find your way back to the city easily enough.
Your exploration of the city is distracted by a couple of things:
1. A dumpster in an alley which smells to have meat in it
2. The sight of a pretty, nice-smelling ladycat in heat
You find the zoo as the sun is beginning to peek over the horizon. You are tired and hungry.
You find a pigeon and attempt to sneak up on it. Unfortunately, it flies away when you pounce.
You do smell food, however; trash cans and dumpsters beckon to you with numerous odors, most foul, some mouth-watering.
You get a half-eaten sausage. It is cold, but not so old as to be inedible.
Hiding as you eat it, chewing carefully, it is delicious.
A. Lions
B. Tigers
C. Bears
D. Wolves
E. All of the above, and more
"I'll take hippopotami for 500."
We'll bump it up to 1@3 for the uses.
You slink into the cage and take a swing at the bear, clawing it deeply. It reacts by slapping you across the cage and charging at you. People are screaming and you hit the wall and lose consciousness.
§
You wake up in an animal hospital, you aren't sure how much later; you have multiple stitches and your left foreleg is in a cast.
A veterinarian comes into the room. "Well, look at that! You should be dead, little fella. Guess it's lucky you've got nine lives. Not too bright, though, attacking a bear. What were you doing there in the first place, little guy?"
He opens the cage and reaches his hand in.
The veterinarian pets you.
Over the course of the next few weeks...
... okay?
... you are taken from the hospital to animal control, where you spend ninety percent of your time in a small, cramped cage.
An old woman adopts you, and takes you to her home in a cat carrier, which she releases you from. The smells of at least ten other cats are in the house.
No worries, Eli, you're *counts a tally on his fingers* more than halfway there.
§
You meet your other housemates. It seems they don't appreciate your presence; when you're sleeping, one of them jumps on top of you and bites you, clearly trying to show his dominance over you.
Without your style, within a couple minutes he's overpowering you with his sheer size.
How to put it delicately?
You start beating the ---- out of the other cat, who clearly decides this was not his greatest idea ever.
The old woman starts batting both of you with a broom towards the now open door.
You are now outside, a free man again. The other cat is hiding from you, nursing his wounds.
What are your intentions with your newfound freedom?
Right where you are, practically on the old lady's doorstep?
You find an out of the way spot to curl up and take a nap.
You awaken later, still during the daylight hours, and find that a small bird has been killed and brought to you in your sleep. You feel somewhat stiff and hungry after your nap.
You find him by scent, up on the roof of the house. He's ignoring you.
The old lady opens her door and starts calling, "Heeeere, keety keety keety..."
"You be a good kitty now, pumpkin."
She gives you some wet food; after the fresh kill, it isn't particularly appealing.
The other cats give you space, and the old woman readies herself for bed, but doesn't go until two in the morning.
Then, your old friends, "darkness," which is even easier to see in than light, and "silence," which just means you can hear things further away, provide you with their company.
You spend a good evening doing your training.
About a week passes, during which you are well fed and the other cats leave you alone.
After the week, in the morning, your caretaker takes one of the cats, puts her in a carrier, and leaves with her.
The woman returns in the evening with butchered cuts of cat meat.
No, she's Polish.
You pick a fight and end up being chased from the house again, this time taking a solid blow to the head from the broom before making your escape.
You are outside.
It is now night. You find a field mouse; it makes a nice snack.
You pass through a hole in a chain link fence and arrive shortly at the edge of a big road; there's quite a bit of fast-moving traffic here. Your scriff sense leads across the street.
You follow the road, and finally, it seems to clear up enough to cross. You run quickly, but fail to avoid a car; it hits you solidly, and you clearly feel yourself run over through the middle in such a way that would not be possible to survive. You black out from the pain.
§
You wake up again, this time at the side of the road where you were trying to get. It is daytime now, but you aren't sure how much time passed. For a moment, you think you're in a new world; then, you clearly recognize your surroundings.
Your wound is gone.
bump
You are nearer to your equipment, yes. You continue toward it, and arrive where you have it covered with your coat.
... you're trying to do what?
Magic, right?
It's supposed to do how much damage?
I'm still pretty confused about what exactly it is you're trying to do.
You're trying to gather supernatural... energy, into your fist, and attack with it?
And this requires you to sit for ten minutes beforehand... yes?
*glances around shiftily, rolls a percentile, it says 66*
§
Nothing happens.
Time passes. You have no particular interruptions; it seems you are far enough from civilization here that human contact does not occur with you much. After a couple of years, a wild dog intent on making you its next meal becomes yours; your combat abilities clearly have advanced to excellent extent.
Rolls a percentile: 2
§
Nothing happens.