Last Time at Dystopia Rising Colorado: Solstice of the Scourge Event Recap

Did you miss the first (virtual) event of the season? Want a refresher because you can’t possibly keep track of everything between events? Never fear! Our event recaps are back! Read on to learn about some of the hijinks you may have missed out on, or relive the hijinks you did get up to!

Friday night

Some of our survivors explored the trails and discovered the main road, DJ Road ii9, had been taken out by a rockslide. It’s still traversable by the West but there’s a massive and dangerous drop-off. Other important areas of note that they uncovered included the southern hunting trails being clear enough to travel on foot and that most of the Diesel Jock roads were also relatively clear… except for the one into town which was overrun by Overgrowth (think, the post-apocalyptic equivalent of an off-ramp from a DJ road to town). Our survivors investigated the town and noticed the old Blue Sun lab was overrun by Scourge and the Saloon… well, what was once there is there no longer.

Meanwhile…

A couple of our town’s doctors were working on an experimental surgery. Surely everything is Fine and Normal.

And if that wasn’t curious enough…

A former-almost-Scourge (yes, those exist) named Yancy crawled out of the grave after basically ditching his induction ritual at the very last second. He collided with a few locals and travelers, including Pollo and Juice, along with a member of the 7x7s, and begged for mercy. Yancy gave them some information, bringing them to the cabin of the Nawleys — a local family — walking them through what happened there with him and the Scourge. He also gave some information that could potentially lead to the 2x2’s lair. Runaan still tried to kill Yancy, with Cascade intervening. Yancy is currently locked up under the 7x7’s surveillance.

Later that night

Immediately following their scuffle over Yancy, Cascade and Runaan found a Natural One named Brynn in a Scourge trap, being attacked and eaten by Zed. They intervened, fighting by the zombies while also being attacked by Scourge that had been hiding and watching the ritual take place. Near death, they managed to draw the Zed’s attention onto the Scourge and escape with Brynn (who will need long-term medical care).

At the same time…

A group of locals assembled to infiltrate some Blue Sun labs and with one of them successfully becoming 2x2’s new lab assistant… at a gruesome cost. Yikes.

SATURDAY MORNING

You may have heard about a traveler named Alicent talking about how they fought God. Don’t… worry about that.

Meanwhile…

Someone let not only Bug, but Pollo and Vanya as well, have access to flammable materials. They, along with their group, did a good job clearing some of the Overgrowth for the Firewatch and managed to even help someone out in the process.

saturday night

A small group fought their way through trapped tunnels that began in an old cell way, way down to a large ritual room. (Spooky.) After they battled waves of cultists, they faced off against 2x2 and… you guessed it, “God.” Didn’t I tell you not worry about this? That’s because they defeated them (narrowly) and saved Alan Hershel in the process from… whatever messed up ritual that was planned.

While that was going on…

A smaller group descended upon the old Barker Bank entrance to the lair, managing to get in and unlocked the vault ever-so-quietly. There was, however, a gnarly fight that happened after and poor Elmore perished. The group had to soldier on, however, and eventually a slightly bewildered Elmore emerged from the Mortis and rejoined Natalie, Coven, and Amaris; and they all stumbled upon 2x2’s SAW trap designing room. (Yikes!) 8 Strains were locked up in murder contraptions… and tick tock, tick tock went the clock.

Under the time constraints and extremely high pressure, they split up the tasks at hand and managed to disarm all the traps, rescuing the would-be victims. Towards the end, however, a Myers entered and tried to intervene. Thanks to some quick thinking, the group overwhelmed and Amaris removed his head privileges.

And there you have it folks — that’s what you missed last month!

Looking to get in on some (more) hijinks at Dystopia Rising Colorado? We have another virtual event coming up March 6-8 before we return to in-person events in April.

'In the Flesh' Event Recap

We hope you enjoyed our October event, In The Flesh! For those of you who missed it, want to get caught up, or have a better perspective on the big picture, here's a rundown of important story beats that occurred over the weekend. These will have you better filled in ahead of our season closer November event, Apocalypse – which takes place in just two weeks.

Friday Night

The preparations for combatting the attempted Integration of Flesher Calonyction – Graverobber of the ever-dangerous Taleholders – into the local Mortis began. From seasoned Wasteland vets to our bluebirds, the town mobilized in garnering the resources needed – including a massive amount of Cracked Psionic Crystal – through every possible avenue. As they did so, bluebirds in the town encountered horrifying signs of the Broken Angels, a terrible faith Undead. For those newer to the area, this threat shaped Barker Meadow into what it is today.

Through hedonistic rituals, Mortis-damaging Cracked Crystal mining out of the Morgue and Helscape mine, and more, the rush was on to get the resources to prepare the Weapons of Mortis Destruction that would be key against Flesher's attempt. In the context of this, several Survivors went on an Infectus Mortis, slaying a sacred beast of ego and screams in the Gravemind to gain back pieces of themselves. Following that, a group embarked on a Videbit Mortis to gain intel on Flesher – the preparations for which had killed the doctor, Ashe Danvers, who had performed them alone. 

In the Videbit, they discovered Flesher's original name – Calonyction Sprucewood, later "Flesher", the "humble butcher" – and Hawk was left behind in the process, trapped in a recreation of the cage that had held Flesher in the Gravemind for a decade by Graverobber Tomas.

Saturday Morning

Tomas came into town and required new faces to help put together piece by piece his great Grave working, the Oblivio Mortis, meant to stop Flesher. Through strange ritual, Tomas prepared for oblivion with the town. 

Nearing lunch, Owen Grace returned with Cassady Jaunt on his heels. Missing and absent at best for months, Owen's whereabouts had been heavily wondered about. The reveal that the Fixation menaces of Barker known as the Hobbes collective used Owen as a "backup" for their thought bending, ended with death – including townsfolk, Cassady, and the permanent death of Owen (who arose as a Devout Dead, which was a precursor to the Broken Angels). Whiskey, experimented on by the Hobbes, was turned against the town and the lingering effects are unclear. 

Saturday Afternoon

With preparation at a fever pitch, the Taleholders struck. A sprawling battle throughout Barker Meadow combatting Taleholders, Workers, Sin-Eaters, and more, commenced, deploying Weapons of Mortis Destruction to shell the Grave monstrosity that Flesher had become and to fight the Workers. Finally, the Grave node Flesher was becoming was shelled into the ground and attempted to breach the Mortis. 

Tomas' Oblivio Mortis found himself and a group of daring Barkers fighting to complete his original Oblivio Mortis to destroy the Taleholders, with a twist: This time, he had help. Denying and attacking Flesher at every turn, using his name and fears to protect Tomas, the Oblivio Mortis was successful and Tomas fed his last, poisoned Infection to the Flesher-node, destroying it and permanently killing Flesher and himself in the process. Flesher's zed assaulted the town shortly after – a Broken Angel of the Seasons – wreaking havoc before being put down.

Saturday Night

That was only the beginning. The Big Bad Wolf, a Nemesis looking to teach important lessons, came into town that evening. The town's response was... complicated and mixed against the Profane Wolf-controlling Big Bad. Did they pass the test, and what does this mean for them going forward?

Before the night was out, the Ghost's haunt and home was discovered, and diaries found giving the story of the killer who had menaced Barker for so long. Would the Barkers be able to catch them now, armed with their tale? 

What’s Next?

With the Taleholders defeated, and the Broken Angels descending upon Barker Meadow, what does the future hold as the Wicked White – and our next event, Apocalypse – approaches? We hope to see you in two weeks to find out together!

"BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE" Event Recap

Our June event, BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE, saw Barker Meadow weather terrible storms of events in the wake of the revelations they’d uncovered the months before. The following is a Story Recap for anyone who would like to catch up, look back, or fill in their understanding of the story of the event. 

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS: 

• The Taleholders and their Graverobber Flesher Calonyction set their home, the Everliving Wood, on fire, forcing many town residents into a "Near-Grave" within the Gravemind to deal with the trauma and devastation caused by a Blood Sap Bear and a Grave version of Flesher along with a Worker. To aid Barker Meadow, other citizens who avoided this fate eliminated additional threats and fought Taleholders.

• Upon reaching safety, survivors spent the weekend attempting to make sense of the incidents that had transpired, researching incoming Workers, and devising methods to combat them through Research Projects and rituals. Their efforts produced several prints, information, and schematics for the Inverted Cairn - a ritual object that weaponizes the Workers' own 'faith' against them.

• A Taleholder Jigsaw Nemesis, seeming to be off-script, menaced the town, at one point using the Pinbacks of the Wood as a toy in their schemes. One of the Pinbacks was saved by intrepid Barkers who also put to rest the Undead of Useless Eyes, the fallen Pinback leader.

• Unknown factors destabilized the Morgue, prompting regular assistance to restore it; however, by trade's end, it was still unclear what had happened. A Sin-Eater with strange effects of Crystal Heart Corrupted may have been connected to this event.

• The “Taint Team” of Tainted in town destabilized their own Infection, regressing or changing to something else, what they had or would have been if they were not Tainted. Dolly’s advancement into a Free Radical came hand in hand with saving them from succumbing to incurable Bad Brain.

• Cassiopeia Woodworm, Speaker of Spring, came by to change the Season to Summer, a ritual later undertaken by the townspeople. Along the way, she revealed her tragic past as a Dark Sky Natural One, a tribe decimated by the Children of Constantine, who had weaponized the Profane Wolves to destroy them. This act caused the All-Faiths to concoct the lie of The Trials in order to point the Wolves at feeding targets through the year and bind the town together.

• Saturday morning, several sailors broke up a snarl in the waterway that was blocking travel.

• Hutch was broken out of prison, held by the Jaunts, for the Archive Heist the month before and openly selling Hype. Going on the lam, the anarchist face of the 7x7s Red Star surely isn’t done rabble-rousing yet.

• Grace clan Rovers shot Red Rain Rockets into town in an attempt to derail a Jaunt caravan as the Rover War between the two groups reached a fevered pitch. Sold to them by their allies The Taleholders, the town apprehended the Graces and seeks to bring them to justice, but a resolution to the feud remains elusive.

• The Profane Wolves were synced after Fraying to attack different faiths by the Nuclear Family’s attempt to have a speedy Trial. Mayor Cassady Jaunt was briefly baptized Nuclear Family to help end the phenomena, and the town had to make hard decisions to protect the community on what to do with the Wolves.

• The Ghost, a local serial killer, claimed another victim. The corpse and crime scene were investigated, producing some leads.

• A trip to the Wolf Morgue, a Synthetic Morgue created originally by Flesher, the birthplace of the Sin-Eaters and Profane Wolves both, led to the discovery of many things still not yet fully understood and an intense battle with Wolves protecting their Morgue. Something terrible seemed to be ready to return from the dead to haunt the town, according to those who entered the Morgue itself.

• Ephraim Butcher of the Wardens, Lorado’s law keeping force, solicited ideas on what to do about POWs from the recent Von Lobo and Masterson conflicts from the Barkers.

• Owen Grace, speaker of Winter who had not been seen in many months, came to town with a fractured, recently killed Cassiopeia to get Cassiopeia fixed, agreeing to give up his seat on the All-Faiths Council to Upptopp, giving the newer settlers of Barker a representative on the Council. Cassiopeia’s mind was treated, but her killer remains at-large.

• Near the end of trade, the Barker Demoniac, the first host of an Unholy Passenger, faith-destroying Mortis parasites, came to town warning of their return and soliciting assistance in their gory, deathly research towards defeating the Passengers.

With terrible threats from the past re-emerging and the town literally burning down around them, the Barkers survived another trade, leaving the town in a precarious state for our July event, POWDER KEG. We hope you had a great time and will join us in July. Continue the conversation on our social media channels in the interim, and we’ll have more details on our July event soon!