2020.10.21 Life and Death 5
| A Cause Most Foul | |
|---|---|
| With the monster trail lost, the investigators look into the mysterious symbol of the Tamerlane's victims. | |
| IC Date | 2020-10-20 |
| IC Time | 8pm PST |
| Players | Beckett Bobo Conn Lochlan Silvana |
| Storyteller | Floyd |
| Location | Suburb of southern Prospect. |
| Prp/Tp | Life and Death. |
| Spheres | Vampire, Sorcerer, Wraith, Changeling, Shifter |
| Theme Song | O' Death |
Setting
It is 8pm.
Each of you have been investigating the odd happenings since the emergence of the Tamerlane in your own way. Regardless the how, or the what, the recent string of clues have run dry. It is as if the oddities simply ceased. The time has come for the paperwork to shuffle away and for the world of mortals to move on with their lives. The brush of the supernatural seems to have lost it's luster, and the sheep return to their herd, doing more important things like calculating taxes, going to work and watching football.
None of you, of course, fell into this trap. What is simply silence merely means a lull in the storm. To that end, the only clue left in your arsenals was the mysterious emblem known to be found on most of the victims of the Tamerlane. An eye, with a skull as it's pupil, with a roman numeral V. The symbol is esoteric but not unknown. A cabal of occultists, 'mediums' you might call them, use this emblem as their little club symbol. Finding where the symbol is is easier than it should be. Not all mediums know other things /invented/ the art of secrecy. And that, is why you all congregate to the same place this night.
In a quiet suburb outside Prospect is an old business building built around the early 1900s. It used to have a wall mural advertisement but it is long decayed now. The door is old, heavy oak with a simple panel window with a sign long since faded to time. The business itself is an antique shop. Some might call it a thirst store, others a junk store. The windows on the ground floor are gated, and steel bars cover the windows on the second floor above. The only other way in, is an access door in the back alley. This door is steel, with a padlock, and that mysterious symbol stamped on the front, peeling and faded with time.
Scene
Though he looks strange, no doubt, in his full length leather jacket, Conn is seldom seen without it. Plus, it suits the cyberpunk motorbike aesthetic he's got going on as his tech headset leads him to where Beckett had asked to meet him. He drops the kickstand of his Triumph and parks it alongside the road, packing the helmet in one of the saddlebags. He looks for the most film-noir lamppost to stand under with a lit cigarette in his mouth and waits for Beckett, who had just sent a text message saying 'funny business' and and two street names.
Bobo is no investigator, but he cannot resist the call of his 'Zen Meandering' that has led him to this place. He watches it like a hawk from a nearby alley, poking his head around the corner as he watches the back door with suspicion. The call of Serendipity screaming to him. This place is importnat...somehow. Bobo notes the strange symbol, his heightened senses allowing him to easily survey it as if he were right next to it... but for now, he says, and does, nothing. There's a stark look on his face. Whatever he's thinking of doing, he doesn't look like he has the guts.
Lochlan comes walking up the street, looking very much like a one eyed stick figure. After spotting Conn, Lochlan moves in that direction. He doesn't call out a greeting or otherwise announce his approach, but he does at least make sure Conn can see him coming.
"Good grief." Beckett's voice could be heard before he could be seen. He emerges from -somewhere- discrete or perhaps he was standing there all along. The dark circles of the prior day are gone from his face, replaced now with a cunning smirk. "Full leather?" He addressing Conn's fashion with a tut-tut sway of his head and click of his tongue. He eyes Conn's lit cigarette with a hunger but quickly turns his gaze on Lochlan as he approaches Conn. "Hm. Hello again."
Silvana showed up with a pretty nice jeep and parks a bit back to watch the building to see who is coming and going for a bit. She's been there a while just kinda watching as people beging to arrive she watches for a bit to see if they just happen to be meeting here.
Conn shoots a nod at Lochlan "So the trouble for the night lies in the spooky, glad I came prepared." He shoots Beckett a grin "My leather jacket always comes with me. Makes me feel like a badass. And it was a birthday present from a guy in the community. Plus, I look fierce in it." He doesn't remind Beckett that it's also where he keeps his sword hidden, but he does gesture at it with a tilt of his head. "So what's the nature of the problem? I assume it's someone ducking a bill, tax accounting stuff." he says the latter with such conviction, that the fragile paper thin lie only withstands the merest breeze because of Conn's earnestness.
As people migrate in the vicinity of the building, it is easy to take stock of the situation. The street is active but mild. A car, now and then again, will come down the street. Instead cars are lined along both sides of the street. Pedestrains are scarce, but present all gravitating toward a bar two blocks over that has so many people it has spilled out onto the sidewalk.
The alleyway is empty, running behind the buildings for the next few blocks, including the bar. There is only two people visible in the alleyway. Two blocks down, near the bar, you are pretty sure someone is getting a blowjob...or someone is loooking in the same place near someone's feet over...and over...and over...and over again.
Bobo's face turns foul as he hears the alleyway blowjob with unpleasant intensity thanks to his heightened senses in the Skinlands. But he also hears discussion of 'problems' coming from the group of newcomers. Newcomers, at least, into Bobo's own investigation. He creeps a little closer, hoping to catch some more information on these new friends... or foes.
<WRAITH> The Shadowlands is more dreary than this setting offers the Quick. Out here, far from the throng of Downtown, the dead are more present. The tempest howls in the distance, but something here howls as well. An echo of a scream as if screaming through time. It is distorted, strange and broken. Where it comes from, or why, is not seen. As Bobo nears the back door you distinctly see a bloody handprint form on the door as if someone was trying to push it open. Wet blood drips and dribbles down the door to your perception, and then dries away. Nothing more than dust.
Lochlan's voice comes out in a quiet raspy whisper, as if he has to strain to even make that much noise, "My brother heard rumors of something terrible happening here tonight. I thought it sounded like a wonderful time. And now it will be so much better with friends." He reaches up and slides his eye patch to cover his good eye. His other eye is a dead, milky white orb that is clearly unable to see.
Silvana reaches back and pulls out a duffle bag to bring along with her. She puts something into her ear before she heads towards the direction that Bobo is at. She is walking catual not trying to draw attention to herself.
Bobo gets closer to the lock, eyeing it carefully with his 'special' eyes to look for any signs of structural weakness. He looks around, for signs of any improvised weapons. A pipe, a rock, anything he can use to get this damn lock off. As Silvana approaches, he stops fiddling with the lock entirely, putting his back to the wall and whistling a tune non-chalantly, like he wasn't just fiddling with a lock in full view of everyone.
Conn squints at the bloody handprint and nods "Spooky it is," he says quietly and nods with a chuckle, "I've got a couple of tricks at the ready, if things get sticky. By the looks of it we're not the only ones here." He chuckles as he watches the scene with Bobo and Silvana unfold, "Should we follow after them?"
"It's a good thing friends are here," Beckett replies to Lochlan, tilting his head at Lochlan revealing his dead eye. His gaze trails to assess the environment. His lips move to respond to Conn, but pause while he observes what's going on with Silvana and Bobo. "Might as well... I don't know either of them."
Silvana smiles at Bobo "I can get that if you want to, since looks like we all" and she looks over to the three and then to Bobo "Are going inside, you all are rather obvious" she points out and reaches into her bag to take something out.
| Silvana Picks the Lock! | Silvana rolls Dexterity + Security vs 6 for 6 successes |
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"Uh...yeah, sure." Bobo says, recoiling in shock. "Hope ya don't mind the eavesdroppin'... but I heard someone talkin' bout somethin' terrible going on here. I kin just feel it." He says, scratching his thick gray beard thoughtfully. "I was, uh, jus' gonna hit it with a rock or somethin', but if you feel like bein' all fancy shmancy 'bout it, be my guest." Bobo says, his tone still reeling in surprisal. "Awful, uh, blunt'a ya."
Lochlan nods his head to Conn, before moving towards the door. He steps off the curb and crosses the street towards the door without any apparent trouble seeing the curb. The perpetually hungry looking young man offers a slow, exagerated wave to Bobo and Silvana. "Oh, yes. Lets go inside and see what there is to see," he whispers to no one in particular.
*POP* The padlock comes undone after some finigling by Silvana. The door appears otherwise unlocked without it. Beyond, the. er. couple. Dont take notice.
Conn takes a last drag on his cigarette and puts it out against the sole of his boot before putting the butt in a bin. "Okay, let's get in off the street and do what needs doing." No names, yet, he notices. But at least the two unknowns seem to be polite, still. He's not going to be the first to name himself, names are power.
Silvana is wearing a pair of gloves by the way as she does a quick job and just like that she opens it up and looks over to everyone and guestures "Well go's going in first" she looks around to make sure no one is watching them or paying attention to them.
Bobo raises a hand in greetings to the newcomers, still blinking in shock like he can't believe he's just wandered into someone elses adventure. "uh...I'll take point." Bobo says flatly, marching through the door with a look of determination on his face, scanning the area carefully to see if he can gather any clues with his heightened senses and deathsight. But he's not exactly trying to sneak here.
| Bobo suffers fear! | Bobo rolls Willpower vs 8 for 1 successes. |
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(To Bobo) When you open the door you are immediate hit with the sounds of shouting. "NO! NO!" As you see someone of middling age, dressed in a tweed suit, getting grabbed by...what your perception tells you, about 752 arms that have burst from the ground. "NO! STOP!" The arms crawl up his legs, up his back, and get to his shoulders as the man screams in pure terror. "STOOPPP!" And then when he is gone? The arms are too, and the room falls to silence.
The back room of the antigue shop is storage. It is -cramped- back here, only so much room that moving around in a single file can get you anywhere. It is as of the storeowners cramed all of their goods into a grid so they could move from one end to the other around their supplies. Antique lamps, 80 year old chairs with 'NEEDS REFURBISHED' tags are here and there. The walls used to be painted but they are peeling from time. A single lightbulb dangles from the roof, currently off and sweeping the room in shadows. There are two ways to go from here. There is a tiny stairwell leading upstairs, wide enough for one person (Conn will have to cramp), and a plain brown door that leads undoubtedly to the storefront.
Bobo pauses for a moment, terror spread across his face. He looks pale as chalk... but he was already pale. But the terror written on his face makes it very noticeable. There's an audible gulp, before Bobo leaps at the ground, trying to grasp at something that isn't there. "NO!" He says with desperation in his voice. He begins to claw at the ground, visibly panicking. Finally Bobo rises, turning to his companions. "We...we gotta help him." It hasn't registered on Bobo that only he saw whatever just transpired.
Conn moves with a fighter's grace, steady and sure of every quiet step and he lays a gentle hand on Bobo's shoulder "Okay buddy, why don't you tell us what happened, we'll see what we can do to help. If it's something spooky you can trust me to keep my mouth shut, I don't blab other folkses secrets."
Beckett's smile fades as Bobo encounters SOMETHING behind the door. He moves, just a little slower than Conn. With a more severe look he scans the inside of the building before looking back to Bobo. "What did you see?"
| Beckett Senses Magic! | Beckett rolls Perception + Enigmas vs 6 for 4 successes. |
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(To Beckett) You don't sense /active/ magic. This place has seen some serious magic however that you can taste it on your tongue. Dark magic. It tastes like cold blood. Death.
Lochlan follows in behind Conn and Beckett. He peers down at Bobo when the man starts scratching and clawing at the floor. But unable to help (and since Conn is already on it,) he instead starts listening for any signs of life in the building with his Sluagh heightened senses.
Beckett peers around the room, dragging his tongue over his thin lips as his eyes search deep into every nook and crany. One might get the sense that he's peeling back the layers of reality with his eyes and looking at what's there. A sudden crease appears on his brow. He looks to Conn and says: "Something stinks." He steps into the room further. With cautious steps he taps the floor with the toe of his boot, listening to see if it sounded as if there was even space beneath the floor or it was completely solid.
The floor does not budge for Beckett as he examines the room. Until he gets to the bottom of the staircase. The soundless heave of the wood changes to a *crreeeaakkk* of space.
Conn nods "Okay, we didn't see it. But I've been around a couple of blocks, so I know that doesn't mean anything. We should look for a staircase or basement hatch or something." He looks at his Sluagh friend "Lochlan, you seeing anything? I don't get a sense of anything out of place beyond this place's general ambience of creepiness. Anyone else?" He nods at Beckett, "Yeah, there's nothing particular from my end of town here, not that I can immediately smelly," he wrinkles his nose in an exhagerated gesture.
| The investigators explore the dark backroom |
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| Conn rolls Perception + Alertness vs 8 for 0 successes. |
| Bobo rolls Perception vs 7 for 0 successes. |
| Lochlan rolls Perception + Investigation vs 5 for 6 successes. |
| Beckett rolls Perception + Alertness + 2 vs 7 for 5 successes. |
| Silvana rolls Perception + Investigation vs 3 for 5 successes. |
The look around the backroom yields little fruit for some. Apart from Beckett's taste in the air, and the lack of significance in the Dreaming the hunt is on to see what can be made sense of here in this dreary place. Scraping along the walls at awkward angles are found in the stairwell's walls, geometric lines as if something of specific size and shape was dragged against them and grinded into the wall. In the corner, the floor yields again, and one can find a tiny hint of rope tucked under a floorboard. The wall separating the basement from the stairwell is thin. There is the faintest trace of blood in front of the wall (this is noticed by
| Beckett forensics the blood! | Beckett rolls Intelligence + Forensics vs 7 for 1 successes. |
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Beckett deduces the blood trail. All he can gauge is that it is old, and someone tried to clean it up and did a poor job at it. The only thing he can surmise is that the blood is not splattered. It is a drag mark.
Bobo grits his teeth as his scan of the room reveals nothing. "I, uh, I don't see anything. ...You guys really didn't see anything either?" He says, his tone still belying the shock of what he just witnessed. Bobo fiddles through his pockets for a moment... before briefly heading back to the back entrance, picking up the padlock, and pocketing it. He rejoins the group as they continue investigating. "Might need it." He says ominously.
Silvana watches the scrapings along the wall and follows them towards the stairwells wall and looks around. She looks over to the others "I found a way to the basement. Does anyone want to look above before we go finding below?" She glances to the blood a moment then towards the others.
Lochlan makes his way through the crowded maze of the room and heads for the stairwell. He whispers in response to Silvana's question, "In my experience, the most interesting secrets are found in people's basements."
When the real Beckett examines the blood on the wall. "Someone cared enough to try and tidy up... though they didn't care too much, apparently," he communicates his findings to the others. "They're long gone now, surely." He nudges his glasses up his nose with a pinky finger and looks to Silvana. "You know that turn of phrase means something, right? Mmm. Nevermind. Why don't you check it out then." He reaches for nearest drawer in this crowded place, pulling it open to see if it contained any interesting marbles.
Conn nods "I've seen my share of incredible things. So just because we didn't see it doesn't mean it wasn't there, I mean, we wouldn't have found the door down if it weren't for it, so it was definitely real." Earnest and sincere he nods, and chuckles at Lochlan "Not in my house. No basement, and the best secrets I have are upstairs in the Murder." He almost begins a response to Beckett and Silvana, but he's not quite sure how to navigate his Oath right now, so he opts for silence, "I can go down first if we want."
Bobo shakes his head. "We know someone's in danger down there. That what matter right now." He says, his tone firm. "No, I'll go first. I couldn't catch him...I feel responsible. Even if mighta not been real." Bobo says, marching down the stairwell, doing his best to look unafraid as he marches down. He doesn't know what the others are, or that they might not even be normal people.
Silvana moves out of the staircase when people begin to head in that direction and she looks at to each person and let's out a bit of a sigh. She takes out her phone and sends out a text before she let's whoever wants to go first, go first.
The trek down to the basement is dark. Even those of supernatural senses, and supernatural gifts, see nothing but darkness and shadow.
The floor in the basement is damp. And sticky. A wind tunnel that echoes like a scream greets you. The light from the stairwell is the only thing that gives you any semblance of light here. It is not a basement. But a tunnel. Hollowed into the earth, with veins that pulse a sickening pallor. And beyond? Darkness. Look into it....
That's right. Just keep walking. It's too much. The whole.../life/ thing. Why keep pretending? Why deal with the pain, the sorrow, the sadness of it all? Just follow the shadow. Follow the darkness. /It/ will take care of you.
GIVE UP.
| Refuse Oblivion's pull! |
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| Bobo rolls Willpower vs 6 for 2 successes. |
| Silvana rolls Willpower vs 6 for 7 successes. |
| Conn rolls Willpower vs 6 for 5 successes. |
| Lochlan rolls Willpower vs 6 for 2 successes. |
| Beckett rolls Willpower vs 6 for 1 successes. |
You each feel that weight, but you easily shake it off and stare into the darkness. There, beyond the reaches of your senses is a presence. An ancient malice. A threat, that does not exist for the living. Bobo knows this place intimately. He has been here at least once before.
| Where are we? |
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| Bobo rolls Intelligence + Lore Wraith vs 7 for 1 successes. |
| Lochlan rolls Intelligence + Lore Wraith vs 7 for 2 successes. |
| Beckett rolls Intelligence + Lore Wraith vs 6 for 1 successes. |
| Silvana rolls Intelligence + Lore Wraith vs 7 for 3 successes. |
You all would understand, in some capacity, that this is reminiscent of what the dead know as the Labyrinth. It is a place underneath the underworld where the term 'terror' tries desperately hard to get a foot in the door. Everything from spectres to ancient monsters, and, it is whispered, Oblivion itself, is down here somewhere...and yes, in a basement in Prospect.
"Oh no. OH NO. OH FUCK NO." Bobo stops dead in his track. "We shouldn't be here, we should NOT BE HERE." Bobo says, a look of genuine horror spread across his face. One that makes his earlier outburst seem tame. "We're... we're in the Labyrinth. The place the Spectres call home. A hell, unlike ANY HELL YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE. I...what do you guys think we should do? We can't fight them. Let alone on their own turf." His voice trembles as he asks. He's terrified. ...But anyone smart would be.
Conn shudders and shakes off whatever dark malevolence infests this place, he's no stranger to despare as an objective force at play in the universe, his hand reflexively goes to the sword in his coat pocket, ready but not drawn, a source of constant solace. "I'll follow your lead Lochlan, what do you say do we have this or is this a fortress of the agents of the final winter?"
The one eyed man peers into the twisting void, his expression flitting between intense curiosity and intense dread. A quick but intense battle is waged in Lochlan's mind between caution and obsession. "Well... I suppose we have two paths of action to pursue... we close this gateway into the void... or we investigate it. But someone or something has been using this basement to enter and leave our realm, and we must either stop them or learn what they have been up to."
Silvana pauses halfway as she senses what everyone does and pauses as she looks around taking a long breath and turns around walking back up the stairs. She is going to head up the stairs to see what is up there just kinda shaking her head.
Beckett's expression as he gazes down into the pits. A knowing flicker of recognition flickers behind his glasses. He reaches to rest a gloved hand on Bobo's shoulder to try and provide a reassuring squeeze that seemed just a little bit too firm, betraying the strength behind Beckett's slender figure. "What about the person you saw get pulled down, friend?" He breaks gaze with Bobo to peer over at Lochlan and Conn with a stare. As Silvana leaves, he speaks: "As ugly as this place might look to you, it is meant to exist... as part of the framework. There are more unpleasant things than Specters here, too." Though what down here that could be here worse than specters, Beckett is agonizingly vague about. As he often is.
Conn nods "Well, Sov is beyond me, no Scathach can, can't even use it if someone else gives me a thing for it. It's a whole thing. I don't think they're like our paths, so not sure our tricks will do anything and the Balroian ways aren't what this is. But if you need me to have your back while you do a thing to it, I can have my sword at the ready."
Beckett also adds: "Ahem. Though... not all the unpleasantries slithering about in here are meant to exist... rather."
Bobo steels himself. "Y-you're right. If he's down here, we might be able to get to him before something happens. But we need to stay together, we need to keep CLOSE track of any turns we make, and we ABSOLUTELY need to be prepared to fight at a seconds notice." There's a blank look on his face as Conn speaks. He has absolutely no idea what was just said. "You guys up to this? I can't stress this enough: This place is hell. The lady friend of ours leavin' is doing the smart thing here. B-but I can't just leave him to this fate. If you guys are coming... come on." He says flatly, as he begins to walk further into the encroaching darkness. "Oh, shut up, I've had enough of you today. You must've been homesick if you're this talkative." Bobo says aloud, to absolutely no one in particular. A voice inside his head, perhaps?
Silvana is not actually leaving. She is doing what she suggested in the first place and checking the upstairs seeing if their are any clues to why.
Silvana finds nothing of eerieness or mystic to explain why there is an entrance to the Labyrinth in this dank basement.
Conn nods at Bobo with a wry grin "Sorry, can't explain. It's a spooky thing. Y'know? I'm spooky, you're spooky, he's spooky, she's spooky, we're spooky, that's spooky as fuck, but smart isn't so important to me as 'good' and 'right'. And I'm here to make sure these two get out of this alive."
Lochlan shakes his head to Conn, and whispers, "Closing something like this is beyond my art." He looks at the others in the basement, "So if no one else has the requisite skill to do it... I suppose we go in."
Beckett puzzles for a moment and then says to Bobo: "I may know an old trick that would help..."
Bobo cups his hands around his mouth, saying loudly (But not yelling), "Can you hear me? We're coming to help! Fight it, as long as you can!" He calls , taking the lock from his pocket to wack it against the walls, hoping to create some kind of 'mark' to remember this as the entry corridor with. "ANYTHING you've got, I'll take. Do what ya think ya can. What ya must." Bobo says in a solemn tone. There's a complete shift in his behavior... something about this evil place is bringing out a sense of determination. Perhaps it's familiarity?
Conn draws a broad leafed shortsword from the inside of his leather jacket and nods in grim determination. "I got your six fellas," and however ridiculous it might otherwise look, at least Conn makes it look like he knows what he's doing. No flashy swooshing of the sword, no flourishes or sword rolling, no stunts. Jusst sword in hand, at the ready.
From out of his postman Beckett takes out a length of copper wire and a personal sized box wine. He speaks aloud, down into the space of the labyrinth's gaping maw. "Oh Wandering Mystic, please grant Guidance and Mercy to those that enter this realm. I beseech you who's sign shared my sky with the Veiled Mother." He would take the copper wire in hand, snapping off a number of pieces equal to those who were there.
The darkness swallows you whole and the creeping sensation of that /presence/ is never far away. You see it in every deep shadow, as if the shadows themselves cast more of their own. That haunting pull for release, release from life. The haunting echo of insidous laughter from beings that can no longer be classified as human haunt and echo throughout this tunnel. Then. In the beyond, is a light. A pale green flame, illuminating the darkness away. It shows the walls for what it is - half-organs, half stone. As if this cavernous hell was almost /alive/. Pale red veins run through the walls in minute amounts, pumping....you dont want to know, elsewhere. There is something near the flame, an object of some kind. To heightened senses, there are three objects.
A sword, specifically a gladius. A roman helm. On the forehead plate, is a skull with a roman numeral 'V' on it. A book, with the cult's symbol on it, made of pale leather.
It distracts you of course from the 6 year old girl who is standing behind you now. "Who're you?" Is what she says. The little girl is in a proper dress for her age, save she is entirely wrapped in barbed wire. It pulls at her flesh, stretching it in a macabre canvas forcing her into a perpetual smile. Blood-like plasm drips from the corner of her mouth giving her a toothy grin. Her eyes...it's her eyes that startle you. It's the same eyes as the darkness. The hollow emptiness. The subtle, tangible darkness that pool behind her eyes. Then she shrieks.
| Swallow your fear! |
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| Bobo rolls Willpower vs 8 for 2 successes. |
| Beckett rolls Willpower vs 8 for 4 successes. |
| Lochlan rolls Willpower vs 8 for 0 successes. |
| Conn rolls Willpower vs 6 for 5 successes. |
The shriek sends shivers down your spine, but none are more effected than Lochlan who seems to have felt the cold pitch of death right down his spinal column. (+2 diff to all actions for the rest of the scene Lochlan).
The shrieking girl vanishes then, and in her wake is more laughter. Then more. And then more.
They are coming.
Any more words Beckett spoke during the ritual he performed, were in Dine, the language of the people known as the Navajo. From each of those present he would pluck a hair from their heads, braiding it into the copper wire if they would allow him to do so(let me know if your character would refuse). When the braiding was complete, he would offer them each their copper wire back. To each of them he would say: "Destroy this when you leave this realm, but not before." Four times he repeats this, before he spills the wine over his own brow before he offers the rest to the Labyrinth's deep gullet and to the Death God Beckett beseeched for aid...The girl causes Beckett to wince. He looks to the others with unsureness over whether this being was hostile or simply unpleasant. "Is it hostile... or simply unpleasant?"
To Silvana Upstairs in the building you find your typical apartment furnishings. Bedrooms, guestrooms, bathrooms. The living room is what takes your attention. The common room is where you find three corpses. All girls. They too have the same symbol on their bodies, this time etched into their body from knives. They have slashed their throats. There is some sort of ritual having been at work here, but the magic has long since dissipated. The bodies are rigid, suggesting they have been dead for a few weeks.
| Silvana examines the ritual | Silvana rolls Perception + Occult + 6 vs 5 for 9 successes. |
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To Silvana So you find that the ritual is tied to bringing down the shroud.
If it were possible for Lochlan to go any paler than he already is, then he would. If it were possible for him to scream, then he would do that as well. Instead, his mouth opens wide as if in a pantomime of a scream, and a sound like air being let out of a tire escapes his lips. His boney hand reaches out to grab Conn's coat sleeve. His grip is not strong, but adrenaline makes it tight. When the girl disappears, he begins to recover somewhat, but is still visibly shaken... "That was... exhilirating... for sure..." he whispers in between gasps of breath.
Bobo's eyes go wide in terror the second he sees the girl. "Oh." He says flatly, too scared to even reflect it in his voice. His eyes go forwards, locking on the objects in front of him. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! THEY'RE COMING!" He screams as loudly as possible. "NOW!" He pauses, looking at the items before him. In a moment, he disappears in a blur of color. The acutely perceptive might be able to see him moving FAST, the world a slowed blur around him as he quickly scoops up every item before him. The Spear, the Book, and the Helm. Luckily, he's wearing a trenchcoat with quite a few pockets. He slips the Book into his pocket, taking a second to make sure they're tangible, donning the helm and wielding the spear in his hands. There's a strange noise, like someone moving insanely fast SCREAMING something imperceptably. He begins running towards the exit, trying to grasp Beckett and Lochlan by the hands as he does so, hoping they'll get the hint. "We can make a stand at the exit! WE do NOT wanna be deep in here when they get here!"
Conn nods his head for Beckett to take a lock of hair and almost gets startled when Lochlan grabs his jacket "Do we need to do like he suggests," he's ready to lift them both up and quarterback them out of here if needs be.
Lochlan begins running after the incredibly fast Bobo without giving it too much thought, and no discussion. After his encounter with the girl, he is more than willling to believe that what is coming for them isn't anything he wants to face on its home turf.
Beckett seems to be trying to focus on something when Bobo grabs onto him and nearly knocks him on his ass. Bobo gets a reflexing glare for his efforts. "If we flee, it will just follow us and get out, won't it?" He tries to quickly assess his surroundings, looking for some shadows that look good for setting up an ambush for whatever Bobo knew was coming. It quickly seemed like it was only himself and Conn that were left here in the underworld to face whatever was coming. "Mouth of the stairs?" He directs Conn, who could not hide as easily, as he dives behind some Labyrinthian ficus or whatever there was to hide behind down here.
| Beckett hides! | Beckett rolls Stealth + Dexterity vs 6 for 4 successes. |
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| Beckett shifts | Beckett rolls Stamina + Primal Urge vs 7 for 1 successes. |
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The HEROES! make it to the entrance, and decide to stand their ground at the entance. Here is hoping they are ready to go! Because there is not one, not two...but hundreds of Spectres, crawling along every wall, ceiling and floor heading toward them. All shrieking, and howling. Raw emotion, everything from dread, to despair, to panic, to fear, to anger, to jealousy, bleeding from them as if they were made from the very essence of emotion.
At least, until the one who never came down shows up.
| Silvana raises the shroud! | Silvana rolls Wits + Occult + 6 vs 6 for 3 successes. |
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Silvana comes rushing down the stairs rather quickly as she notices that the men are out and no longer inside the scary place. Shee moves to the side lights a candle and begins to chant as she seems to be doing something closing her eyes and concentratings at the opening that the men had just gone through. She draws a knife from her bag or many things and perhaps she will draw blood or maybe it's for another reason.
Bobo turns around as he reaches the entrance to the tunnel. His eyes go wide as he realizes neither member of his party decided to follow him out of there. He takes a step forward... and stops. He does not have the strength of Will required to enter the depths of hell again... especially not now that they know he's here. "T-they didn't make it. I think they're trying to FIGHT." Bobo says flatly as Silvana enters. But once she begins her strange ritual, Bobo takes not, making sure to not interrupt it. Instead, he simply brandishes his spear, fastens his helmet... and prepares for a miracle.
Silvana performs her spell. Conn and Ghostwalker, using the shadows as cover, prepare to defend. Lochlan and Bobo, are around Silvana.
Reality itself hardens to your perception, as if someone was dusting over your perception with a broom. The crawling spectres begin to fade as the Shroud, the barrier between worlds, hardens. No longer is there nothing between you and the world of the dead, but a barrier that keeps each other away. The presence of the Shroud brushes the cavern away, the howling spectres slowly vanishing in the tide.
To be on the basement floor would leave one in the Labyrinth no doubt, as the only thing left is a dank basement with no lights.
Lochlan breathes a long sigh of relief as, presumably, Silvana's magic raises the Shroud back up between the mortal world and the labyrinth. He takes a long moment to collect himself before whispering, "Thank you for saving us from the horde, miss," before turning to Bobo, "I would like to take a look at that book. It might give us some idea what this was all about."
Bobo instinctively drops his spear and reaches his arms wide in an attempt to hug Silvana and Lochlan as the shroud is raised, something Death/Lifesight make quite visible to him. "WE'RE ALIVE!" ish, anyways. "I CAN'T FUCKIN' BELIEVE IT!" He yells with excitement, letting go (if they didn't push his bear-hug aside in the first place.) "You are SOMETHING ELSE, Lil' Lady." Bobo says, tipping his new Helm at her. "err...yeah, of course. I almost forgot about that in all the near-dyin' going on. That horde woulda killed all'a us, no doubt about it."
Bobo holds the book out for Lochlan to examine. "You can look at the Helm n' spear too, 'course. ...Probably not as much written on em, though." He says with a chuckle. The kind of laugh that says 'I genuinely can't believe I'm still standing.' as he removes his helmet for examination.
Conn sheathes his sword with a stoic look, he's happy not to have needed it but happier still to have been able to use it if it were needed. "A good start is half the battlen," he says with a nod, "not my area of expertise, this dead people stuff, didn't even know doors like that could still be opened."
Silvana blows some air once the noise is quiet and everyone is accountable. She blinks as she is suddently bear hugged by Bobo and she lightly pats his back lightly "You have a book? I would like to also take a look at the book and whatever you brought across. There are dead bodies upstairs in ritual style. That we should probably do something about at least give some kind of something" she takes a breath as she looks around at the others. She bows her head politely to the others "I am glad you are all well"
Taking the book once it is offered with a whispered, "Thank you, sir," Lochlan will begin immediately thumbing through it to get a general sense of its subject and its purpose. He looks up from the book when Silvana mentions dead bodies. He whispers over the tome, "If one of you can help me get the bodies back to the funeral home, I can take care of making sure they are laid to rest properly. Or we could contact the mortal authorities after we make sure there are no further occult dangers they might be exposed to."
The helmet is OLD. Very very old. It is rusted around itself, formerly black and gold plate, with the roman plume, black in color, across the head. The skull with the roman numeral V is on it, but otherwise looks nothing else important. The gladius is as old as the helmet. It has obviously seen several battles with knicks, cuts and chips on the blade. (whoever is holding the helmet or sword needs to make a willpower vs 6 roll please).
| Resist the HATRED | Bobo rolls Willpower vs 6 for 4 successes. |
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To Bobo Anger and malice fill you, but does not instill in you the desire to -murder-. (If you have any Anger Passions you can feed. If you have Dark Passions tied to Anger, roll your dark passion vs 7 for angst).
| Bobo's shadow feeds | Bobo rolls 3 vs 7 for 1 successes. | Bobo gains 1 Angst |
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The book however, to Lochlan's perception, is an interesting story. One might guess it is a spellbook. It isn't. Instead it is a story.
And Charon's Deathlords bowed to him, O' Lord of Death, and sent the Legions to quell the new world, in the year of our Lord, 1441.'
'O Legion. O 5th Legion. Their blade rang deep in the plasm of the restless dead who called the world their home. Of animal skin and spear they fell to the blade of O' Lord Charon. Till nary a soul was left.
'O Legion. O 5th Legion. their banners waved from Tenochitclan to Chacoa, Huitzlipotchli to die tonight! Die before O' Lord of Death Charon'.The rest of the book is a bunch of names, all of them crossed off with red marker.
Conn feels no inclination towards the sword, helmet or book. They are not his business, Beckett told him he was needed, Conn came. Fair is fair and all that. "Okay, if you gents and lady don't need me any further, I'm going to make my way back to more familiar terms. I think we need to talk," he says, looking at the now human looking Beckett, "but it can wait until tomorrow."
"It seems to tell the story of one of Charon's Legions, sent to slaughter..." Lochlan whispers, his brow furrowing for a moment, "The native wraiths of the new world. Quite successfully too. From the names, it would seem that this was a ledger recording the legion's members. From the way they are crossed out, I imagine they are lost to Oblivion. Indeed, they might be the very spectres that this young woman saved us from."
When Beckett emerges from the shadows he is but a man. He steps closer to to Lochlan and the tome, trying to read over his shoulder. His lips press together in discomfort at either something he sees or something Lochlan reiterates.
Silvana makes sure to get to look at the book and if no one takes it she will asks for it. As everyone seems to be talking she goes back up the stairs to deal with the dead bodies. She checks for Id's and things now that she has some time and there isn't doom or thousands of scary things coming or trying to get out.
A strange, almost indescribable look crosses Bobo's face. He stares at his friends with pure hatred in his eyes. "Are you STUPID?" Bobo roars, his tone dripping with Venom. "You could've gotten ALL OF US KILLED!!" Bobo roars at Conn and Beckett. Suddenly, his 'dopey-but-friendly' demeanor returns, and he instinctively removes his helmet, dropping it hard on the floor.
"I...I didn't mean that. Something's up with that helmet. It made me feel REAL DAMN MAD. ...I don't think it's just a hat. Don't touch the sword either, juss'a make sure. I can't explain it... but that things /evil/. I can feel it."
Lochlan pauses for a moment, in thought, before whispering, "I would like to take the book with me to cross reference the names within it..." Though he does pass it to Silvana so she can also have a look at its contents. He looks over at Bobo's reaction to the helmet, and adds, "We should likely bag those and find somewhere extremely safe to put them, then."
"Wait...did you just say Charon?" Bobo says, as he slowly loses the malice that the helm was filling him with. "Who's that?" Bobo says, tilting his head curiously/
Upstairs, the dead bodies she found do have IDs. If she checks the names, she indeed finds them.
It is more than simply the names of the legionnaires. It is their descendants, and their descendants descendants. A purge, of an entire lineage of families.
And if that wasn't enough, people's phones go off with one of those 'warnings' that sometimes get dispatched by local authorities.
"WARNING - ADVISEMENT AND CAUTION. SMALLPOX CONFIRMED IN PROSPECT"
END SCENE
