CorPse

"Well, you're gonna need a lot of concrete."
— Docc, when consulted about the damage to the dam in Falls.

With the leader of their expedition gone (for good?) the group resolves to head back to Falls and get further instructions. The Old Man of the village overhears that they're going to the major city and gives Docc a circuit board to sell there.

Happy to escape the potentially volatile situation in the Valley, the group heads up the path leading into the hills. They swing by to check on Michael and the mine on their way up. They leave the Valley without incident. As they make their way down to the river Jimmy notices a horse near the water. He sneaks around on his own to get a better look and sees that it's one of his old friends, Arthur Chester (played by Kurt, our new player).

After a few minutes it becomes clear that Chester is traveling in the general direction of Falls and would like to walk with the group. Shortly thereafter, Docc notices a plume of smoke in the general direction of Falls. With large groups of the Tribe around, they expect the worst.

They approach the city with caution. Traveling along the river, they deduce that the smoke is, in fact, coming from Falls. Getting closer, they see that they level behind the damn is lower and that one of the guard towers appears to be destroyed. Docc hails the other guard tower and manages to get a response. Eventually the travelers are brought inside the tower and given the rundown. They discover that the Tribe mounted a huge attack with many of them wielding metal weapons (which is unusual).

Despite the fact that the city has been seriously damaged in places, the church officials make good on their promise of providing fair market value for the party's goods. They manage to obtain some light arms & ammo, glasses for Dave, and other generally useful stuff. (Docc trades the circuit board for some lessons on internal combustion engines.)

They also offer the party compensation for helping out with rebuilding the city. Jimmy, Chester, and Dave all end up doing manual labor on and near the city wall. Docc gets to use his technical skills in helping out with some dam repair. He consults on the issue of the large crack that's developed in the dam's surface and he works to get debris out of the dam's turbines.
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The guys on the work crew discover that there were actually two attacks from seemingly different Tribe groups. They see the bodies stacked in piles outside of the city walls. Later, everyone except Docc is called to the city walls to turn away a possible attack. A group of well-armed men on horseback approaches the city wall, but stays at a distance. Eventually they turn away. While the workers at the walls are convinced that the group is from rival city Three Rivers, Docc finds out from church officials that they aren't sure where the men are from. They came through just before the last Tribe attack, which is, of course, suspicious.

Jimmy runs into one of his old crowminer buddies who tells him that there was a Tribe attack way up the hills near his home. Interestingly, they attempted to ransack an ancient city high in the hills, but gave up after a few days (apparently daunted by the size of the place.) After hearing about the city Docc can't wait to see it.

With no other better plan about what to do next, the group prepares for the long trek...