Route 66 - Act 1: Stadium Jumper Strut
Opening
The session opens on Ray's RV on the way back from the now destroyed Bass Pro Pyramid. Kate and Moki sit together at the table and look into the media response to the pyramid's destruction. It seems like there's a coverup going on and many sources are painting the event as a freak accident.
Sometime into their travels, the group hears a thud and Ray pulls over at the side of the road. Everyone steps out to investigate, noticing that one of the tires has gone flat. Ray mentions he doesn't have a spare and that he'll have to call someone to tow the RV and get it patched up.
In the interim, since Kate and Moki remember they neglected to pick a souvenir for Skab, they explore the area and find a run-down strip mall in the middle of the desert. As they get closer to the entrance, they meet a small Kobold with a jacket that had the text "Bring on the Fights" written in Kanji on the back. Kate can read this but Moki cannot. He introduces himself as Steven, and mentions that he's on a delivery for someone here, but his scooter's tire went flat. He also mentions he was scared to go in because every time he did, a group of four or so people would show up and attack him.
Kate and Moki say they'll defend him and they head in. Moki gives Steven her crossbow so he can defend himself without getting up close.
Almost immediately after stepping in, four people in purple and white jackets phase in and attack the three. They make quick work of them and continue forward into the strip mall. Despite this place being completely unrelated to their home mall, Moki feels something similar to an anomaly...but oddly it feels more natural.
They head to the GameStop and Kate picks out a gift for Skab. Kate finds a full bin of original copies of the ET game. Knowing Skab's video game nerdiness, she gets a copy for him. Moki asks what year it is to the clerk as he replies it's 1982.
They trio explore more around the strip mall, oddly no clock seems to be the same...even the stores seem to be from different eras. They first visit Funko-Games which appeared to be from the 50's. There was also a Payless outlet, a Fossil, a Forever 21, and other stores. All of which seemed to have a different time period.
Eventually while exploring, the group hears a metallic clanging. They follow the sound to investigate, heading out of the mall from one of the rear entrances. As they keep walking, they come across an 18 wheeler with the rear open. They call out to whoever is inside, and they come out, introducing themselves as Diesel.
Steven recognizes this name and realizes that this man was who he was supposed to deliver to. Steven says the man's full name. Steven also mentions the guys the group had to fight to get to the truck. Diesel corrects Steven on his last name, specifying it is "Glenn-Saiga" and warns Steven about the jacket, as it was causing the apparitions to materialize and attack. He takes the bag Steven had and takes the jacket off, leaving it on the ground. Diesel takes the components to a burger out from the bag, and gives the bag back, with payment. Diesel then opens the trailer into a full bar setup with pop-up barstools and an open side as he starts making burgers for everyone.
Diesel also shows off some magical items he found during his travels, including a bag of holding and a wallet that always has $20 in it. One can take the $20 out and hand it to someone, but it'll appear back in the wallet. If spent, it takes a day to come back. Moki tries pulling the $20 and comes out with 20 Canadian dollars. The group is surprised and Diesel lets Moki keep the wallet and the bag, handing her both.
As he cooks, Diesel also mentions that if someone can challenge the apparitions the jacket creates alone, they will be rewarded. Kate takes the challenge on, putting on the jacket. A group of four guys appear and fuse into one bigger guy. Kate fights and comes out victorious. Once she wins, the jacket transforms into a dark hoodie with asymmetrical zippers and an edgy collar. It has red oni and blue oni markings on the back.
While she fights, Moki speaks with Diesel as he was forging a weapon when they had arrived. She asks if he can improve her weapon, handing him her conductor's baton/rapier. He looks at it and has an idea, he puts it under the fire briefly and then taps his hammer on it, imbuing it with barbs, allowing her to use her bardic inspirations to feed into her damage.
After this, a dark rift appears in the corner of the bar, and a face peers out of it. It is unlike anything the party recognizes. The face recognizes Kate and more particularly, her sword. It asks to see it as two hands come out of the rift. Kate gives the entity her sword and it is strengthened. Some of the darkness in it has faded. Before the group parts ways, Moki asks to speak to the entity for a moment. She asks it if it can look into her and offer her advice on what's happening to her. The entity takes a look at Moki, seeing the darker presence within her. it hands her a vial of white liquid and tells her to drink it when she feels lost. Moki nods and puts it in her bag.
The groups part ways. Realizing that she still needed to get a gift for Skab, Moki runs back into the mall and into another gaming store, finding a lootbug plush to take home for Skab.
The pair head back out and find Ray waiting for them. They get inside and head back to the mall.