2020-12-18 Rite of the Gogh Dagger
| Rite of the Pain Dagger | |
|---|---|
| Gogh Performs the Rite of the Pain Dagger | |
| IC Date | 20th of December, 2020 |
| Players | Harvey as Sideline Cheer-rat and ST for the Rat Gaffling, Perfection as Perfected Perfection, Gogh as Giver and Taker of Pain |
| Location | The Shanty Village - Home of Ratkin! |
| Prp/Tp | One Shot Scene |
| Spheres | Ratkin |
| Theme Song | Survivor - Eye of the Tiger |
The little Knife Skulker had taken a machete, and washed it with rainwater, polished it with oil from a leaking car, and she laid it on a small, bare plank of wood. Today, she wore the War-Form, her movements deft, her red eyes gleaming, her other knife holstered at her hip. It was methodical, slow, as she purified the blade, and then began to cleanse herself. Grooming, with deft motions of her paws. She had told those of her Deceit what she was doing, invited them to watch - watch, not interfere - but she focused and groomed herself and the blade, transferring her own liquids and scent to the weapon, the weapon's scents to her
Perfection is present, in the form of a small pale rat, watching the knife-skulker with curious interest. Squeaking and chittering now and again, mimicking the grooming motions carefully with wide eyes. <<And I can't help at all?>>
He decided to come and watch. This was interesting to him. He had never seen the Rite of the Pain Dagger performed before. And to see a Knife Skulker perform it? Almost unheard of. That she had earned that Honor was enough to silence the little creature. He's parked his rodens body up on the roof of his RV, his front paws over the edge of the roof. Intently, he studies. He watches. This should be interesting. The Patchy Black Rat is tense, so very tense, awaiting what will happen.
<<Myself. And Rat. Is dedication to the War>> Gogh responds, her ruby red eyes gleaming as she continues to groom herself. Then, the knife is placed down, the hilt away from her - across the plank, offered to whatever creature is called, as she breathes her gnosis to it, her tail twitching ferociously
The pale rat sits a little straighter on her hindlegs, whiskers twitching as she raises her head for a better look, a better sense of what's going on, before she quickly scurries along, over to where Harvey's hiding.
<<What do you think?>>
| Gogh Rolls for the Rite! |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly rolls Wits + Rituals vs 7 for 2 successes. |
The patchy black rat, Harvey, remains completely still up on that RV. Even when the Munchmausen joins him there, he does not move a muscle. He just lets out a chittering sound. So absorved is he with the process. And then Gogh begins the ritual. Expending her spiritual energies to call forth something. Anything. To challenge, to fight. He begins to squeak out with rhythmic, short little bursts. Almost like a War Chant! FOR RAT!
At first, there is nothing. Silence. In fact, it turns very silent. As if sound forgot to exist. Then a strange little wind kicks up. It stirs the dirt. A little minitwister begins to form, kicking up more dirt. The air shimmers, stirs. It ripples, almost, as if it turned soggy and was about to rip apart. And out from this ripple comes a -huge- rat. It is easily almost three times the size of a regular rat. Like a small dog! Its eyes are not just red, they are angry red pits. Its front teeth are almost like metal, sharp and deadly. Almost the very moment it arrives, it lets out a LOUD shrieking noise. From the left, from the right, pieces of metal junk comes flying to slam into the rat, forming something akin to armor. And why not? She has summoned a Rat of the City. A Gaffling that has spent a lot of time among its cousins in the Weaver infested scab. It stares at her. It has come to accept the Challenge.
Gogh grins. Her teeth bare, and she picks up the blade. This is a statement, after all, of how she will fight. What she will fight with! But there is honor, of a sort - respect shown, to one of Rat's brood. She keeps her eyes on the thing as she steps back, her muzzle bobbing in a short nod, as she crouches, holding the knife close and tight, her breathing quickening and her tail lashing. No tricks. Knife Skulkers are known for them. But here? She's simply here to Fight. To War.
<<FOR RAT!>> Perfection cheers, in a loud and eager squeak, running circles around her own tail, nosing and whisker-twitching in the direction of Knife-Skulker and Gaffling. <"I see you! I recognise you! You'll be a good dagger!"> She adds, to the rat-spirit, cheerfully. <<And if not, say hello to Whiskers-in-Wine for me!>>
The patchy black rat that is Harvey continues its bursts of squeaky rat noises. It -is- indeed chanting. Chanting for War. Chanting for Fight. Chanting for Chaos. But it does not chant for Gogh. Or the Gaffling. It is just chanting for the fight! Who wins seems irrelevant to the Engineer.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 14 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 13 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Calls Shot to Head |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 5 for 10 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Dodge |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 4 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 5 + 1 vs 6 for 1 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 6 for 2 successes. |
For Rat, indeed. The summoned creature is here to do one thing, and one thing only. It understands that there has been a Challenge. This it truly knows. Through the power of the Rite, it understands. But it does not know more than that. It knows it is angry. It knows it must fight to win or lose. But the Gafflings mind is one of instinct and little else. The moment she picks up the machete, it attacks. It charges her, SCREECHING out something fiercly as metal encased rat charges the Warformed Knight Skulker!
And that was indeed her plan! But the Gaffling Rat has survived only Momma Rat knows how many Moons and Suns in the Spirit world. Fighting Banes. Weaver Spirits. Anything that moves. It knows a sharp tooth when it sees one and that machete qualifies as a sharp tooth. When Gogh strikes at it, the large armored rat suddenly changes its angle, abandoning its attack and twisting its body in mid air. The blade of the machete misses some of its mark, catching the edge on the armor and sending sparks flying as the rat lands on the ground. Claws grips the dirt, it hisses out.. ready to go again.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 13 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 12 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Calls Shot to Head |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 5 for 7 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Dodge |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 + 1 vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 6 for 3 successes. |
Gogh recovers herself. She snarls, adjusting the grip on the machete, and moves to twist and strike again! Still, she aims for the head of the armored thing, the armored rat, the little War Machine of Momma. Cut it off, the rest falls! Panting, eyes burning!
This time, the rat knows it does not have the moment. It does not have the initiative. It does not have the high ground! It crouches down a bit, skitters to the side and lets out a shrieking sound as Gogh once more hacks at it! Its body twists, trying to roll out of the way but again, Gogh strikes at it. This time, though, something happens. She beats at the metal of its head and part of that armor comes off. She's making dents!
<<It's a nasty one,>> Perfection opines to Harvey with admiration in her squeaks. <<But I think our Gogh is nastier.>>
Harvey, being the patch black rat, catches its breath with each strike that Gogh delivers to the spirit rodent. It is completely absorbed with the combat!
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 21 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 14 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Calls Shot to Head |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 6 for 8 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Dodge |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 4 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 3 + 1 vs 6 for 0 successes. |
This time, Gogh hisses firmly. She aims a little more - and she aims right at that dent! It's a tiny target, but for the sinewy little Skulker, all corded muscle, teeth, and tail, the machete strikes at it firmly!
More sparks fly off the armor of the rat as Gogh strikes it. But the rat is moving well. It is moving FAST, making her most DEADLY attacks strike not quite as true as they should have, could have. She does not chip off anything this time, but the lightshow is fantastic! The Gaffling Rat SQUEAKS loudly, angrily.
| INITS |
|---|
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 18 |
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 13 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gaffling Rolls Attack |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 2 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Dodge / Split Roll |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + -2 + Dodge vs 6 for 6 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Attack / Split Roll |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee + -2 vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 2 + 1 vs 6 for 5 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 4 (4 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes. |
Gogh hisses, flustered and frustrated! She panicks, and twists out of the way of the attack, keening a moment - then snarling, striking once more at that little dent and gap in the armor! Furious and angry!
The rat gaffling senses it, now. It senses that it has the upperhand. It has the momentum! Twisting around where it landed, it charges her and goes for the KNEECAPS! But its target is too fast. Too agile. Its sharp front teeth bites into the empty air, and for its trouble it gets a heavy strike against its head. The armor that is protecting its nogging gets heavily dented and Gogh can see something dark and thick trickling from under the helmet.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 21 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 9 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Rolls Attack |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 6 for 4 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Dodge |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 3 (3 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes. |
Gogh continues her assault. No wild swings, no desperate attacks, no - there's a chink in the damned things armor, and she goes for it, ferociously attempting to peel away that armored layer to get to the Tasty Rat Gaffling centre within! Another leap, another jump, another strike with both hands slamming the dagger down
The Gafflings eyes burn red with anger and bloodlust. The creature spins around on the spot in an attempt to always have its front towards its attacker, so it knows when to try to move out of the way from the Sharp Tooth that keeps smacking its head. It fails, though. It keeps failing at it! Once more, it moves too slow and once more the strike smacks against its head. More of the armoror chips away! More .. blood? Something akin to it, is drawn.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 14 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 12 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Rolls Attack / Split Action |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee + -2 vs 6 for 5 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 + 4 vs 6 for 4 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 2 (2 dice) vs 6 for 2 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Attack |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Dodge |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + -2 + Dodge vs 6 for 4 successes. |
Gogh lets out a chittering little taunt. There are no words. it's the sound of someone drawing blood, taking satisfaction, and then once more twisting, writhing, driving the machete at the exact same spot, again and again. Worrying and hurting and peeling it apart, layer by layer!
She keeps hacking at the Gaffling and by now, almost all its head armor is gone! That last strike even cuts through the metal, reaching the body under it. Her Machete tastes blood! The creature lets out an angry sound, then goes for her ankle. But once more, the Gogh is too fast for it. Once more, the creature misse and bites the air.
Another chittering cheer from the nosebleeds, which, from the perspective of this fight, is what the top of the RV is. <<You can do it, Gogh! To the PAIN!>>
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 19 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 15 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Rolls Attack |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 6 for 4 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 + 3 vs 6 for 1 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 1 (1 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Attack |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 8 for 2 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Damage |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 6 + 1 (7 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls soak |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Stamina vs 6 for 2 successes. |
Gogh snarls. She's determined, now. And she's tiring. Her breathing is labored, as she adjusts the machete, tumbling to the floor with the Rat as it leaps at her. She tries to drive the machete in once more, once more to that injured place, but barely gets purchase"!
Desperation sets in. The Gaffling is close to losing its fight, close to resigning itself to whatever fate will befall it. Abandoning all hope, the creature sheds any pretence that it can actually dodge her attacks. So it coils up and then lets lose, launching from the ground towards Goghs FACE! It comes crashing against her machete and just pushes it aside as it strikes its body, doing nothing. Its entire body slams against her face, but the force and angle is too weak. Teeth and claws all miss.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 20 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 13 |
| COMBAT! | |
|---|---|
| Gogh Rolls Attack | |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 6 for 1 successes. | |
| Gogh Rolls Damage | |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 vs 6 for 1 successes. | |
| Gaffling Rolls Soak | |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 1 (1 dice) vs 1 for 1 successes. | |
| Gaffling Rolls Attack | |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 8 for 4 successes. | |
| Gaffling Rolls Damage | |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 6 + 3 (9 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes. | |
| Gogh Rolls Soak | |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Stamina vs 6 for 3 successes. | |
| Van Go Quickly gains one Aggravated Damage | Van Go Quickly gains one Aggravated Damage |
Gogh is frantic, now. The machete is wrenched up, and wrapped in both hands as she drives it in once more, clinging to it and trying to work the blade in
NOM! Nom, goes the rat. Just as Gogh drives the machete blade in between the head of the Gaffling and its head armor, prying it off and sending it flying, the large creature sees an opportunity and goes for it. Its sharp, metal-like rodent teeth bite hard into the lower part of her right arm. They sink in deep, slicing through flesh and bloodvessels. It tastes blood, and its eyes pulse an angry red!
| INITS |
|---|
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 18 |
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 16 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gaffling Rolls Attack |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 8 for 3 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Dodge |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + -2 + Dodge vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Attack |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee + -2 vs 6 for 0 successes. |
The pain rattles Gogh! Even though she escapes the second, followup bite, swiftly switching the machete to her other hand and twisting away to defend her arm, the motion is still enough to slow down her attack against it, missing entirely!
The rat gaffling has gained momentum now. It has tasted blood. It spins around in the air, barely touching the ground before it launches at her once more. But just as it whizzes past her machete, the rat flies past her arm and misses it fully.
| INITS |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly has rolled initiative: 15 |
| Patchy Black Rat has rolled NPC initiative: NPC Mr Gaffers goes on 11 |
| COMBAT! |
|---|
| Gogh Rolls Attack |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Dexterity + Melee vs 6 for 2 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Damage |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Strength + 3 + 1 + 1 vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Final Attack |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 8 (8 dice) vs 8 for 2 successes. |
| Gaffling Rolls Final Damage |
| Patchy Black Rat rolls 6 + 1 (7 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes. |
| Gogh Rolls Soak |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Stamina vs 6 for 3 successes. |
Gogh, meanwhile, even as she bleeds, grimly hangs on for life. The machete is wedged, now, and she bears down on it with all her strength, driving it home into that weak spot, torn out again and again until there's only the spirit left to defend itself, even as blood runs down her arm and she screams in pure rage
It is a Rat Gaffling. One of Momma Rats brood. It has a touch of the Wyld to it, making its final moment .. unpredictable. For once more, the creature goes for her right arm. This time, though, Gogh strikes it first. Her blade strikes true! The edge cuts in behind its head, digging into the creatures body and for all intents and purposes, killing it. But the head? The head lives on. Its body has momentum and it reaches its destination. Once there, she once more feels the rat bite HARD into her arm. Digging into her flesh deeply, viciously. And then? Then it just falls limp. All the metal armor that was covering the rest of its body just falls off. And there it hangs, from her arm. Teeth in her flesh. She won.
From the top of the RV, the continuous chanting of the patchy black rat finally stops. With the last attack of the Gaffling rat, the black rat acknowledges the winner by letting out a loud, shrieking and chittering sound as he raises his head into the air!
| Last Roll for Rite of the Pain Dagger to Bind Spirit |
|---|
| Van Go Quickly loses one Willpower |
| Van Go Quickly rolls Wits + Rituals + -2 vs 7 for 0 successes. |
Gogh pants. The blood runs from her arm, as the things fangs sink in there, holding it. She does not remove it, but takes the dedicated blade and plunges it into the body, holding the head in place. A low keening comes from her mouth, but she manages to brux her incisors, hissing <"I beat you. No gifts. No power but mine. Come. Join with me. Strike with me. We will take them together. Be my Pain. My Dagger.">
There is no reply from the body of the Gaffling. Why would there be? Its body is limp. But the spirit? The spirit is not dead. Only its manifested body is struck down. The creature suddenly twitches. Once.. twice. Then, without warning, it turns transluscent, changes to an eerie shade of pale blue to then suddenly become a ghostly image of a rat. This creature is alive, though, and it climbs on to her arm. Through her arm! It becomes one with her arm, until her entire arm glows spiritually ghostly blue! Then without warning, all that spiritual energy flows along her arm into the machete. The weapon pulsates once, twice, and then returns to normal. It brought with it more than that, though. It brought with her some of her blood, some of the pain it gave her arm. Binding itself and her blood to the Pain Dagger.
Gogh has the sense to set the dagger down reverently, before she moves across to the two cheerrats. Her Deceit. An hand is clamped to the wounds, her teeth fixed in a rictus grin of pain, but her red eyes burn <<Yes. It is done>> She hisses, and sways
The Pale Rat is dancing, hopping in circles and spinning around Harvey, cheering Gogh on with some sort of chittering nonsense chant in response to the spirit rat joining with the machete. <<YOU CAN DO THE THING! YOU DID THE THING!>>
The patchy black rat lowers his head slowly, his intense little eyes locking on to Gogh in her warform. He lets out a chittering sound, <<Rat be praised. Rat be praised. Rat be praised.>> it calls out three times, almost as if in prayer.
<<Momma Rat be praised>> Gogh responds weakly, curling in to settle by the two, breathing heavily as her hand holds that wound tightly <<Will heal.>> She mutters, breathing deeply <<Can wrap it>> She takes up one of the flannel shirts, biting it to rip it, and then binds it around the wounds with smooth claws, even as she quivers
<<You will heal,>> Perfection agrees, slithering on top of Gogh to warm her, nuzzling against her. "We will ensure you have good foods and good drink while you heal. Rest, Van Go Quickly. You did well.>>
As Gogh gets up on the roof of the RV to curl up with the two other rats, Harvey the Black Rat moves right up to her. When she curls up, he scrambles up on her, sniffing her and there to make sure there are no other injuries. He lets out another squeaking noise before he leaps from her, moving to the roof hatch of the RV. He butts it open fully with his body, to then just toss himself inside the RV. And for a few moments, he's gone from view. There's a bit of a rummaging around down there before a few things are tossed out of the hatch hole, landing on the roof. A rolled up blanket. A bottle of water. An MRE (for some outlandish reason, he has MRE's). There is silence, and then the black rat pops back up from the hatch. It then starts the task of dragging all the things over to Gogh. In rodens form. Because taking human form would be too intelligent and the little Engineer seems to have lost all sense of logic having watched the fight. Although, how he tossed all those things from below up here? Its a mystery!
Gogh lifts her good arm, to lightly stroke against Perfection. She then drops it, to help Harvey, her breathing deep and her eyes a little glassy. <<Thank you>> She breathes out <<Will sleep. Rest. Yes. And be safe. With family>>
<<Safe with family. I will sing of your battle, Van Go Quickly, and how you earned the service of this spirit.>> Perfection chittes, nosing at Gogh's head. The Pale Rat twitches its whiskers at Harvey, giving a ratty look of appreciation for the Engineer's preparedness
The rat struggles, as a rat would, with unfolding the blanket before it can finally draaaaag it over Gogh. Well, partially, at least. Since Perfection is covering other parts of the Gogh form! It then rolls the waterbottle within reach and drags the MRE pack over. And once done, it moves to settle down near Goghs feet. Its little body lifts up on its hind legs, to then stand there like a little sentry of Ratty Black Death that it is! It mirrors the Munchmauses sentiments in actions if not in words. It will stand guard.
