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The road ahead of you was dusty and long, but at the very least relatively clear, which in the post nuclear wastelands of America was always a good thing. No raiders trying to steal your stuff, no stupid beasts, mutant or not, trying to get between your legs. It was easy going and relatively easy... now if only it wouldn't be so damn bloody hot already! The air was humid and muggy, and you could swear it almost felt like your walking through tar at times! On the plus side however, it seemed like the environment here seemed a little more conducive to plant growth. You see the odd oasis or green grass and even living trees with green leaves and everything as you walk, some of which isn't even horribly mutated either! More then once you had paused to enjoy a bit of shade and take a break in your trek south.

Speaking of going south though, your thoughts turn to reasons you had traveled so far south to begin with. Half of it had to do with salvage of course, the apparent prospector business quite booming near the great city of Orlando. The other reason though was the sight of the most alluring woman you had ever seen. She had the shape of human, but the looks of feline, with fur and cute triangular ears. She said she had come from a vault; vault 52, down from Orlando. She was adventurer and explorer, spreading the word of what her vault could do. And how could you not be intrigued? She was an exotic beauty, and with her change came valuable skills and abilities. Sharp claws just as capable as knives, night vision, heightened hearing and reflexes. Even toughened skin apparently! Your not really sure how you felt about the transforming part, but getting those other abilities? Those would be some super handy perks!

Up ahead you see a sign on a hill saying that Orlando was around 34 miles away on the crest of a hill. As you go over the hill you see the a relatively decent sized settlement on the road, with standard junk walls all around. Probably a town that popped up as a resting spot for traveling traders. The places could vary in atmosphere though, ranging from safe and secure to super dodgy and sketchy. It would be best to check over your gear before continuing.

Joy takes a generous sip from her water canteen before wiping some sweat from her brow. While it was a clear day with no threats in sight the heat seemed to be just as bad as an encounter with a raider right now. The air was humid and muggy, making her have to keep her light duster off and only wearing her white tank top for her upper body. Besides having to show off some cleavage she the rest of her body is cover, her worn down jeans pants which she has found from a ruined clothing store has been rather durable while be able to breath well enough. She had her pack on her back, holding her supplies such as food, water, ammo and junk and room for any useful salvage she finds. Her main weapon, a well cared for hunting rifle, is held in her other hand. This rifle has kept her safe for the most part though she kept a pistol and knife on her side as backups.

It takes her a moment to remember why she's heading south to this humid location in the first place. She remembered that weird animal woman she came across, almost shooting her when Joy thought she was just some kind of mutant that wanted her as a next meal. However she found that the woman had undergone some kind of transformation at some vault in Orlando. Joy didn't care much about the transformation though she was also told of the amount of salvage she could find down there and if there were Vaults there then that means there might be some high tech places around it since companies like Vault Tec tend to leave a lot of their equipment near their vault locations. She could make a good living off of valuable scrap.

Just as Joy felt like taking a break she sees an old and worn sign that was still legible, telling her that the city was another fifteen miles away. Deciding to get over the hill first she is soon greeted to the sight of what looks like a settlement for travelers such as herself. Looking over her gear and supplies for a bit first she then makes her way down the hill towards the settlement, hoping it'll be a safe one for her to rest at.

You give your gear a quick once over, sliding back the bolt on your rifle slightly before settling it home again to make sure it was in good working order. Your standard 9mm pistol is next, and you check that with a quick pull back of the slide with the magazine released. It slides smoothly and noiselessly, the hall marks of a well cared for weapon. That done you reload and reready your weapons and holster them again before checking over your modest stock of ammunition to make sure it was secure and in place. Now all you had to do was head into town.

You head down the road toward the town, feeling a little anxious knowing that these little trader stops could vary wildly in temperament. It wasn't completely out of the question for them to just shoot on sight for people to unfamiliar to them, stupid as it was. As you approach though it seems the guards on the gate walls are much more mild mannered. Thankfully it seems they put people smart enough on their walls here to recognize that one lone person slowly approaching in the open wasn't trying to attack them. As you get closer you see there are three folks, two on the right side and one on the left. All armed with rifles of varying models, but all of them with manual actions like yours. One of the guys on the right is a big burly guy wearing a brown cowboy hat with a star on the front, a bushy and surprisingly well cared for handle bar mustache on his face.

"Howdy there stranger!", he calls out as you get close, leaning on the side of his ramshankle wall. "Not to often we get lone travelers around here. Heading to Orlando I guess?", he asks you. His voice is friendly though his tone is neutral. Seems like this place was a rather safe place to be at least. Like any good guard though he probably wanted to get an idea of your general temperament. Likely to help him determine if he thought you might make trouble or not.

Joy looks over her equipment, making sure that her weapons didn't need any maintenance and that she had a good amount of ammo with her. Seeing that she was prepared incase of being attacked she heads down the road to the settlement. As she got closer to the settlement she finds that they are not hostile or trigger happy as none of the guards even aim their weapons at her and she allows herself to relax a bit but still be on guard. She is a bit surprised by the man that greeted her, his speech and looks a bit of an odd thing for her especially his mannerism.

"Yes, I came from the north and heading to Orlando. Thought I might stop by here to rest on my way there. What is this place?" Joy asked as she looked up the junk walls for a moment and then back to him. The place seemed safe enough; walls surrounding the town and non-trigger happy guards posted at the front and a somewhat friendly welcome.

"This here? Alaqua. Named for the lakes nearby. Just a trader stop, as you no doubt have guessed.", the man says. When he finishes he looks to his comrade next to him, who looks back. After a few seconds of staring at each other though the man with the cowboy hat just sighs and puts a hand over his eyes. "Goddammit Billy. She ain't no raider junkie! Open the damn gate already!", he says. The other guy jolts, as if struck by lightning. "Oh! Sorry Kyle!", the younger lad replies, clearly a little thick. He disappears from sight, prompting another sign from the mustached man. "Sorry about that miss. But I'm sure you can understand caution. Some might call me a fool for wanting to talk to every passerby, or a fool of thinking even a pretty gal like yourself can be dangerous at all. I ain't no fool though. The pretty ones are often the most dangerous!", he says, finishing with a short laugh. "Plus I can see by your demeanor alone you clearly know how to hold your own."

Just then the gates start to open, the younger man, billy, pulling on one of the doors. "Well don't be shy miss. We got clean water, decent food and places to sleep. A not so bad bar too. You ain't got nothing to worry about here if you ain't looking to cause trouble.", the mustached guy, Kyle, says.

Free to enter you could go about exploring the small town. However Kyle seems pretty knowledgeable about stuff and might be a good person to answer any questions you might have. However, you suppose you could always just head to the bar instead presuming you didn't just to roll right through town without gathering any information on the area around you.

Joy almost felt a bit offended at one of them even thinking that she might be a raider. She tried her best to dress and look somewhat nicely, unlike how raiders always seem to be covered in dirt and blood. However she understood that they needed to be cautious since she's seen many settlements be attacked by raiders including some she lived in. "It's quite alright, I understand the need to be cautious." She says to the one in the cowboy hat, Kyle his name it seemed. While in this town she decides that she'll try to get some water to refill her canteen and some extra bottles since it's so hot around these parts. She'll also visit the bar too; she could use a good drink and meal after all her walking. But before that she thought to asked Kyle some questions.

"So Kyle, right? Can you tell me anything about the area? Around here, Orlando, or the way to Orlando?" She asked him for information. It might be best if she knew everything she could about the area if she was going to be traveling, which she is. "Anything I else I should know about Alaqua too?" She also asked incase he had anything important to say about this town.

"Here? Well there isn't much to be said. The last water point between here and Orlando, pumped all the way from the nearby lakes and purified here. Reasonably priced too unlike some other places you might have passed.", He starts with as you enter the settlement. Kyle comes down off the wall via some stairs so he can keep talking to you. "Other then that though? Not too much. There an old trailer park nearby, to the east. And to the north of that there is actually an old world radar of some kind or another. I imagine the salvage there is pretty good but, well... deathclaws. I'm sure that's all I need to say about that.", Kyle says with a bit of a laugh. "About the town though? Well, not much. Quiet little place really. Good radstag hunting too with the nicer greenery around. Course though that also draws in the predators. Hence the walls, so be careful outside of them. I'm sure a pretty thing like you knows about the dangers of all the mutant creatures after all. Had to go help some poor ladies with some critter on their backs more then once, if uh... you get my drift.

"Anyway, though this place is generally pretty quiet there are a few raider gangs between her and Orlando too, and of course if your looking to make caps there is always something that needs to be done. Just ask Joel, our bartender, about that if your looking to make some extra money. Before you go though, don't shoot the poor guy yeah? He's a bit of a shock to people who meet him the first time.", Kyle then says, adding that last little bit with some mysterious flare. "He won't bite you though. Promise!"

Joy was a little skeptical when she heard that the water is "reasonably priced" since she's heard those words to describe a lot of other things only to find it sold cheaper somewhere else but if the water is really sold reasonably then she'll be sure to stock up. She listens to what Kyle has to say about the areas nearby. The trailer park might be a hit or miss depending on who lived there before but they are usually misses but she might get lucky if she checks it out. Old radars are usually a great place for salvage but when Kyle said there were deathclaws around there she knew it wasn't worth it. The only other thing of note about the surrounding areas he said were that there were predators so she'll need to watch out for them and keep to main roads.

When he told her about Joel she raised a brow when he said that the bartender is a bit of a shock to her. "If he's a ghoul or something then I won't have a problem with him. I know a lot of ghouls, some of which have been good business partners." She told him. "Well if there's nothing else then I'm going to go see about getting something to eat and maybe a good drink too." She said, planning to go to the bar first to rest a bit.

"Oh's Joel ain't no ghoul. But I don't want to give away the surprise.", Kyle says, grinning a little as if he just said the punchline to some sort of inside joke or something. "Anyway, that's all I really know some. Folks at the bar might have more interesting info. Likely a few folks around here that are willing to pay to get something done too. Stay out of trouble miss.", Kyle says, tipping his hat at you before going back to up to his position at the wall.

Looking inward the town seems simple enough. Probably about a good fifty or so people living here. There was a fair bit of housing, along with a large brahmin pen and barn built from scrap. Next to it is an old rundown pre war building. A rather large place that must've been an old roadside motel or something. There is a glowing sign that says bar on it over the main entrance, so you head over to check it out.

Inside it's actually quite nice. Pretty roomy, lots of space. Even had intact pool tables. There are locals, along with a traveling merchants and mercs, all about casually drinking, eating and just generally relaxing. The atmosphere was a little stale with the smell of cigar smoke, but that was kind of normal. However you nearly have a fit when you see whats behind the bar: some sort of lizard man! His face has a long muzzle, with wicked looking teeth the shone white. The rest of it had sharp angular ridges, with a couple of curved horns and green eyes. His body was covered in scales, crimson red in color. All in all he looked almost sort of like a deathclaw and yet at the same not at all. More like a... dragon without wings, and wearing clothes. Despite his fearsome look though, he has one contrasting aspect that sort of ruined his intimidating demeanor. He was quite small. Shorter then you even! That... and he was currently cleaning a glass.

"Hello!", He suddenly says to you, breaking you out of your stupor. "New around here I see? Well, thanks for keeping you gun holstered and just staring!", he says with a friendly laugh. "I'm Joel, and this is my bar. What can I get for you?", he asks.

Entering the bar Joy looks around a bit till she noticed the lizard man behind the counter. Her hands quickly grip her rifle till she notices that its wearing clothing and was a bit short and cleaning a glass. Was this what Kyle was talking about by a 'surprise?' Then again she did meet a woman with fur and animal characteristics that lead her down south this way. Did something similar happen to this person?

When he greeted her it shook Joy out of her thoughts and she looked down at him. "Um, hello Joel. I guess I could go for a drink and something to eat. Any information you have would be nice as well." She said as she relaxed and sat down at the bar. "And yeah, I'm new around here. I'm heading south to Orlando. I'm Joy, by the way." She said as she took out some of her caps so she could pay for the food and drink. As she waits for the food or listens to anything Joel had to say she looks around the bar a bit more, maybe see if anyone of interest was around.

"Any information? Well, thats sort of of a vague statement don't you think?", Joel says with a bit of a laugh. "I mean, I could tell you my favorite color and why I prefer Sunset Sarsaparilla over Nuka-Cola but I doubt those are things would really be interested in. Food though? That I can handle.", he says getting out a little notepad and a pen as you sit yourself at the bar. "Anything in particular you wanted? Most stuff is around the same general price though. If you want though you can just through me some caps and whip you something up. I promise there is no bug meat unless you order it. I know it's not for everyone and we tend to save it for the food shortages anyway... not too bad in stew though. Really depends on how you cook it really.", he says, sort of rambling

Whatever your choice on food was, if you wanted some useful information it would seem you'd have to be more specific in your questions. Granted though that shouldn't be hard. Surely Joel might know something about this mysterious vault that does the changes right? Surely he had been there? Unless this was just some... really neat mutation or something.

Joy rolled her eyes when she is told that she needed to be more specific about her question about information before she listens to him ramble on about the food they had available. "Any meat that isn't bug is fine and something light to drink." She told him as she took out her caps to pay for the food and drink.

"As for being more specific about information, whatever you got about this town and the surrounding areas would be nice, maybe things to be aware of or any good rumors or maybe some decent work since I could use more caps." She then pauses. "Also..." She looks over his lizard man form. "I heard there's a...vault down in Orlando that...changes people to look...kind of like you."

Joel nods as you tell him what you'd like to eat, and goes about preparing some food for you as he starts to answer your other questions. "Well this is a pretty barren stretch of land. Not too much to see around here. Certainly nothing that Kyle likely hadn't told you about already.", the dragon/lizard man says, telling you that as far as landmarks there was little to be had around here. Maybe you might find one or two little sites to scavenge but nothing likely too impressive in the area it would seem. "As for rumors? Well... like I said. Small place, unless you like hearing about trader gossip. Though to be fair, word is that down south there is a new raider gang thats been hassling the caravans. Even took a few out. Blood snakes or something silly like that. Typical dumb raider name. Still, watch yourself. It seems like they're a little more organized then most but if you ask me it's only a matter of time before the gang gets too big and tears itself apart per usual.

"As far as work though? Well, the town has been having a bit of a gecko problem lately. Imagine there is a nest of the suckers in some little burrow out in the wastes somewhere nearby. Four hundred caps in it for you if your up for hunting them down. Keep harassing some of the caravans. Some of them eve tunneled into the town and ate half the chickens! Little shits.", Joel explains.

Then you ask about the vault, and Joel gets this 'look' about him. A look that sort of says he desperately wants to sigh and roll his eyes, but doesn't. You couldn't really blame the reaction though. He probably got the question loads enough. "The vault... the vault, the vault, the vault...", he says, flipping over a piece of meat as he orders his thoughts. "Well, first off, your not wrong. It's real alright. I'm proof enough of that, and you might've seen the other odd changed person. Things is though, no one really knows where it is, or why whoever is in the vault is doing what they are doing.", he says. That was sort of odd to hear. The cat like woman you had met had said she was from the vault itself and was spreading the word of what her vault could do. This was a completely contradictory statement! Maybe she was just... overzealous in her explanation? She seemed quite proud of her new form after all. "All I really remember was that I tagging along on a rare trip down south to try and procure myself some rare uh... items. Anyway, what I was getting isn't important. All I know is that I was with a caravan. There was a raider attack. An explosion near me knocked me for a loop and I was sort of half delirious. There was lasers and plasma then, I just remember the lights, then robots. I passed out. I came in and out of consciousness then, I remember bright lights and white walls. All sorts of wild looking folks, with vault suits that said 52. I could only read them because the numbers were so damn big. Next thing I know... I'm just laying in the middle of the wastes, naked, with some other folks changed to look quite like me, if different colors. From what I've been able to piece together, I think that whole time must've been two weeks. I've come no closer to finding anything else about how or why it happened since, or where the vault really is other then somewhere around Orlando.", Joel says.

Quite the mystery it would seem. But you can't help but feel intrigued.

Joy frowns a bit as she isn't told that there is anything really interesting nearby that she hasn't already been told by Kyle so she probably wont find any interesting or valuable scrap nearby. Even the rumors weren't that good except for the warning about raiders nearby and that they seemed to be more organized than how raider gangs usually are. "Well thanks for the warning, though I'm going to need to find a way past or around them since I'm heading south..." She mumbles as she takes a moment to look over her ammo since she might need it for raiders soon. Hearing about the possible job of hunting Geckos the reward of four hundred caps did seem really good though taking out a nest of them can be troublesome, especially if she didn't have a lead on the nest. "Say if I'm interest in hunting down this nest; any idea where it might be?" She asked.

When she asked about the vault she noticed his expressions about the questions and is surprised by what she is told. It seemed to be contradictory to what she was told before. "Huh...That is a bit strange to hear from you since I met this...cat person who made it seem like a good thing..." She mentioned. It seemed that this vault took people by force or ones they find unconscious in Joel's case. She might need to be careful when around the area the vault ight be now. "Hope the change hasn't been too hard on you... By the way, where were you when your caravan was attacked? I might want to avoid that area if possible."

"Well, I can't say for sure where the nest would be. If I had to hazard a guess though I'd say it would be somewhere to the south though. Burt's chicken coop is along the south wall, and thats where they tunneled in.", Joel explains. "You seem like the capable sort though. I'm sure you can track them down. And if not you can always wait till one pops it's head up. Careful though miss. You know how wasteland creatures are. Especially around ladies such as yourself."

That was a risk you were well aware of already. In reality the strange... drive that most wasteland creature's seemed to have to try and mate with any female they come across, species be damned, was quite strange. But having grown up with this always being the case you had gotten used to such things by now. It was just another part of like in post apocalyptic America. A shitty part, but hey, beats dying right?

Of course though as you explain the cat person Joel is quick to pay attention? "That so? Well, can't say I've met any cat themed folks. Have heard about them though. There is a rumor going about all sorts of folks like you said. Cat themed, dog themed, lizard themed as you can see. Going about promoting the vault. Never met one myself. Just got 'lucky' I guess.", Joel says. I'd say it might be true they're from the vault if they're promoting it, but I think all the folks like that have long since gone here for elsewhere. Probably why you found a cat girl way out wherever you did. Could be just trying to lure folks like you in. Vaults are sort of none for their... weird experiments after all.", Joel says. The next moment though he's handing a plate with a nice grilled piece of brahmin steak, with some kind of pasta and what looks like mashed yams or something. It smells fantastic. "That said though, weird as the whole situation is I haven't really had much of a downside from being changed other then, well, occasionally getting shot at by someone who mistakes me for a monster or something. Since I've been changed though? The bullets just seem to... skip right off me when they do it. I sure as hell ain't complaining about that! And hey... some ladies are even into it!", he adds on finishing that last bit with a laugh.

"I see. Well at least that helps narrow my search down a bit; I need to head down south anyways so might as well clear out that gecko nest before I make my way to Orlando." Joy says after she is told of the general area the gecko's might have their nest. When he told her of the risks of these creatures she gulps and blushes a bit, knowing the dangers as she has witnessed it happen to some unfortunate woman. She often wondered if this kind of thing has been a recent occurrence from some kind of new mutation or if it was just a thing in this part of the world.

She then listens to what Joel has to say about the vault and the cat person she met before she is given hot plate of food which made her mouth water at just the sight and smell of it. Before she eats she lets him finish talking and blushes a bit at the last thing he said. "I'll just need to take your word for that." She said before looking back at her food, thanking him for it and then digging in what looks like the best meal she's had in a very long time.

Your food ready you dig in, and boy it tastes as good as it looks. This was a pretty decent little caravan resting town you had to say! Shame it was sort of in the middle of nowhere, but in a way that might be one of the best things about it. Helped kept it safe if there wasn't enough property and or resources to attract others here. Especially so with Orlando so close anyway.

Still, as you eat you could still always ask Joel anymore questions you might have, or perhaps of any other work that might be had that might not involve putting yourself in danger. Whether you have anymore questions or just eat your meal in relative peace though the only thing you had to do was go hunt those geckos and hopefully still have your pants in one piece by the end of it. Course you can try to secure yourself some lodgings first if you wanted, but that could always wait till afterword.

Joy takes some time to enjoy the great food she was given, filling her stomach a bit before slowing down to better savor the food. As she eats her food at a slower pace she decides to question Joel a bit more as she eats her meal. "So Joel, I now I asked about the town already, but anything you might be able to tell me about the people? Places of interest here? I might want to stock up on supplies and ammo before I go and do anything. Might need a place to stay for the night as well." She said to him between bites of her food as she couldn't stop eating the delicious food.

"Well, if you need a place to stay I can board you here. 10 caps for a simple room for a night. Twenty caps for a nicer room, if you want a little more space and a heater. Also got a shower room here too even. Men and women divided of course. One of the few luxuries we have here since we pump water from the lake a dozen clicks out. Still it's five caps if you want to clean yourself up.", Joel explains.

"As for other points of interest? Well, the general store is across the way. Good broad selection of everything. Good gun variety, mods, all sorts of ammo. Hell he's even got a few power armor pieces. No frame though... okay well he has one but it's busted. In fact if you have any technical no how, he might pay you a good bit if you could get that frame functioning. Erm, anyway. He has a lot of travels goods as well. Food and meds and chems and the like. The water pump is also right next to his building.

Down from that is the brahmin barn. Not a whole lot of local herd. It's mostly for the traders coming through to give their animals a safe place to stay. Still, there is likely some more mundane work to be had there. It's owned by Tessa Gray. She's likes her cattle though. Takes care of them real well... real well.

"And just down from that is Burt's chicken farm. He's a little intense FYI. Harmless enough really, but he does the angry grumpy old man thing real well. If you deal with the gecko problem though you'll probably be his new favorite person and he'll be happy to pay you for work well done.

"Other then that, just a few farmers and a couple tech guys that keep all the weapons and the other stuff we got running around here in one piece, especially the water pump and filter. Pump house is actually just behind my bar and inn here. They might have something for you to do, not sure what though. They tend to go out and patrol the area between here and the lake though. Make sure no one's tries to dig up the water pipe. Luckily the few raiders that have gotten far enough out here aren't that smart to try and find it.", Joel explains. Giving you the whole general run down of the settlement.

Joy listens to what Joel had to say about the town while she finishes off her food and drink. Seemed like this town has what she needs in terms of supplies before she heads down to Orlando. Looks like there were a few places to check out as well while she's here and more possible work; it's best to have a good supply of caps no matter what is what she believed. When he finished giving her the run down of the town Joy thanks him for the information. "Well thanks for the information, and especially for the food Joel." She said with an appreciative smile and handing him some extra caps as a tip before getting up. "I'll see you around." She said before leaving.

Once out of the building she decides to check out Burt's chicken farm first to investigate the gecko problem before she goes out to find the nest.