KTDA, In The Beginning

Beginnings are not easy or simple. How do you start a role-playing game? How do you get your characters into the game and get action started? No, definitely not simple. For those who've wondered how our Keep The Dream Alive role-playing game got started, here is a digest-version of Season One and the first days of game-play. Enjoy!

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      Savinius retraces his steps back out of the alleyway and sees a girl in the distance.  (She's pretty cute.) His shyness towards females kicks in and he ducks behind some nearby trash cans.

      Arianna grabs a backpack and pull-behind suitcase. She heads out into the street to find someone…anyone. Startled by a loud crash, she clutches her backpack as she turns to see what made the noise. Noticing a handsome and rugged older boy, she walks over to him. “Hi, I’m Arianna. What’s your name?” She turns and notices a young girl coming up the street towards them.

      Mimi was at the end of the street and heard some noises. She walks up and sees Arianna and Savinius.  “Hi. I am Mimi. Who are you?”

      Savinius thinks to himself, (Crap! I've got two girls to deal with now!) He slowly gets up from behind the trash cans. “I'm Savinius, and you two are?”

      Arianna, batting her eyes flirtatiously, reaches out a hand to help Savinius. “My name is Arianna. Nice to meet you, Savinius. And you too, Mimi. I’ve been alone for so long, it’s good to be with people again. Shall we be friends?”

      “I'm Mimi—sure, we can be friends, Arianna.  Nice to meet you, Savinius.”

      Xeno walks away from his burning house and turns south, where he understands his sister is. After an unknown amount of time, he sees the first kids he's seen in hours. Xeno smiles to himself then heads over to them. “I'm Xeno. Have you seen my sister? Her name is Adear, and this is her photo.” Shows them the photo in his hand.

      Arianna looks at the picture closely. “No, I’ve never seen her before. I’m Arianna.”  She points to Mimi. “This is Mimi, and…” points again, “this is Savinius. We just met.”

      Mimi looks at the photo Xeno holds. “Not me either, Xeno.”

      Prince enters town walking his out-of-gas motorbike and spots 4 other teens. (Where in the heck did they come from?)  “Hi, guys. I’m Prince. Do you know where I can get any gas for my bike?”

      Savinius says, “I don't know about you guys, but I've been having a hard time surviving on my own.  Maybe we should band together and even form a tribe.”

      Arianna giggles. “A tribe sounds like a wonderful idea. We can help Xeno find his sister and take care of each other.” She wraps her arms around Savinius’ neck and kisses him on the cheek. “You are so smart to think of it.” Then she hugs Mimi, Xeno and Prince.  “We could be like a family.”

      Savinius looks down and away from Arianna. “I’m glad everyone likes the idea. We could talk about this right here and right now, but I think it might be better to move somewhere safe. There are well-established tribes in this area—like the El Diablos, the Brotherhood, the Lemmings. Does anyone know where we can hide out for a few days?”

      “I was headed to my uncle’s warehouse.” Arianna points ahead of them. “It should be safe. There’s an electric lock system. My father said there might even be stuff I could use to survive.”

      Xeno asks, “How will this help me find my sister? I've been fine traveling like this, searching for her...and how do you think this place is safe from the tribes like El Diablos and the Brotherhood? Or even the Lemmings?”

      Savinius replies, “Well, Xeno, we don't know if it's safe or not. But I do have a question, Arianna. Does this place have a generator?” He cocks one eyebrow up and smiles. “Wait, that doesn't matter right now--we just need somewhere safe, and this place might do it.” He looks toward Prince. “Prince, can we use your bike's battery?  I can hotwire the electrical system for just long enough to get the door open. Regardless if the generator works or not, we will be safe because no one will be able to get in!  But we need another battery from a car just in case, so we don't get trapped inside.”

      Xeno rolls his eyes. “I see none of you have seen her. Maybe I should continue after a night’s sleep. Lets head to this place of yours!”

      Prince says, “Well, Sav--clever, man! Just don't screw it up! And as soon we all get situated in this place of Arianna's, we'll both go get that car battery together. Now I'm gonna follow that angry guy,” (referring to Xeno).  “You should, too, if you know what this city holds for us.”

      Xeno slows down because he has no idea where this warehouse is. Xeno is not angry; he’s just in general annoyed with life.

      Savinius catches up with Xeno and puts his hand on his shoulder.  “Look, man, I didn't mean to ignore your request back there. But we need a safe place to stay before we can effectively find your sister. We'll do this right, after we find a place to live and food, I promise.” They pass a wrecked car. “Well, we better stop and borrow this car's battery for backup.” He pulls out a pair of pliers from his pocket and removes the battery. He looks back towards Arianna. “Hey Arianna, where's the warehouse at?”

      Arianna looks behind her. “Wait…shh…I just heard something. Listen--do you hear it?  It’s coming from that direction.” She walks to the corner and peers around the building.  (Oh, my lord!)  She runs back to the others, looking scared and confused. “There is a group of like 50 people standing back there.”

      “It looks like El Diablos,” Savinius says. “They've all got devil horns painted on their foreheads. We better head to safety. Honestly, I would like that electrical lock standing in the way between the 5 of us and the 50 of them!”

      Arianna pulls a sheet of paper out of her pocket and studies it for a second. “It’s only like 6 blocks to the warehouse.” She grabs her backpack and suitcase. “Just follow me--keep quiet and keep up!”

      Prince hides the motorbike in a large pile of garbage and runs with Arianna and the others. He explains, “I'll come back for that later.”

      Savinius grabs the battery he pilfered out of a car. “Wait up, guys!”

      Arianna looks back. (Well, at least I’m not going to be alone.) She turns left at the corner, then slows down so the others can catch up.

      Prince stops running. “I'm gonna lead the El Diablos in a different direction. I want y'all to go ahead—I’ll catch up in about 10 minutes.” Prince goes into a dusty office building and heads to the top of it. (I see the El Diablos--now I’m gonna get them!)  From the top of the building, Prince throws an office chair into the center of the group below, injuring 8 of the 50. The Diablos enter the building to kill the stranger who did this to their tribe! Prince escapes through the mail chute and runs back to his new family. (Man, that was so freakin' raw!)

      Xeno turns towards Prince, grabs the front of his shirt, picks him up and slams him against a wall. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?  DID THEY DO ANYTHING TO YOU?” Xeno screams into Prince’s face. “YOU HAVE JUST ENDANGERED ALL OF US!”

      Prince slaps Xeno’s hands off him. “Ok! Sorry! Just trying to buy us a little time!”

      Following Arianna, Savinius tells her, “Look, maybe we should run ahead of the others. I need some time to get that door open. I need at least 3 minutes to hook this battery up.”

      Arianna looks at Savinius and smiles. (He is probably right, especially after what Prince just did.) She pulls the paper with the directions and code out of her pocket and rips off the code. “Savinius and I are going to run ahead and get the battery hooked to the door.” Hands the paper to her new friends. “Here are the directions to the warehouse.  Just follow them, and we’ll be waiting with the door open for you.”

      Running, Arianna calls back, “Savinius, come on--we're close. Only 3 more blocks to go!” She turns right at the corner, runs 2 blocks down past a gas station, then stops to wait for Savinius. “We have a small problem. The warehouse is surrounded by that fence.”

      Prince catches up with Savinius and Arianna, breathing hard. “I see y'all got a lil problem with the fence. Lucky for us, I packed this tool case.”

      Arianna closes her eye for a moment. “I think we might need pliers.There is an opening in the fence where the trucks used to get in and out. It has a chain and lock on it, but I bet with Prince's pliers I could pick it. If not, I know I can get it with my nail file.”  She remembers picking her school locker lock after forgetting the combination.

      Xeno stares after Prince as his hand automatically goes for the wicked hunting knife he always carries. But at the last second, Xeno stops himself. He was just going to spend the night with them and move on to find his sister, but now Xeno just might rid this new tribe of this kid first! Xeno turns to Mimi. Everything is fine.”  Xeno looks back and sees the Diablos turn the corner and see the two of them. Xeno even recognizes one of the Diablos who’s limping. To Mimi, “RUN—they’re behind us!”

      Savinius looks around and finds a lock to pick. “I'm gonna try and pick this lock. Can I have your nail file, Arianna?”

      Prince watches Xeno. “C'mon, Sav-man, let’s get this stupid lock to open.” He holds the lock tight as they both search for the right opening point. “Ok, man, let’s go.”

      Savinius smiles as he and Prince hear a click in the lock. “We're in!” He picks up the car battery. “One more door between us and a little safety.” Savinius looks toward Arianna. “Can you take us to the entrance?” He picks up the battery. “I'll be hella glad when this is all over and we're somewhere safe.”

Welcome to "Keep the Dream Alive."

-Chyna