Zeitgeist Blue

Salvo will Delay to Ms. Thursday.

Actually, let's play it like one of those "Constructing the crime scene" things sci-fi movies can do. As Snakebite can see the past, and how she sees it here is like a kind of scene hologram overlay over the present, she could choose to rewind, fast forward, pause, etc. This way if she wants to focus on a specific item or set of actions, or if she wants to do a skill check on something she could. She could also choose to interact with the "present" while still watching the "past", such as checking the bodies or talking to Isa. Just tell me here or post in the IC about it, or tell me if you just want to continue the scene. By default, I'll continue it every day or so.

GM <Paruma.> Isa corrects you off-handedly. <I see Uncle Doji has been telling you his stories.> She leaves you, moving to the bodies, and her absence leaves you free to open your senses. At first you see yourself and Isa in the present, then you move back watching your struggle against Neil. Again, moving back, your vision turning into phantom figures who play your fight in reverse. The moon rises from the west to hang high in the sky and the world darkens in turn. And underneath the night sky, the clearing is empty, the bodies of the Paruma and Kayara gone, Neil and Isa gone, the churning of the soil from your fight gone, the broken branches and impromptu path you came from gone. It is as if the clearing had laid undisturbed for a very, very long time. From afar, you can see the very top of smoke from the village. But a nearby rustling brings your attention back to the clearing and you see Neil emerge from the trees, machete in hand, which he quickly sheathes once he sees where he is and that nothing awaits him here. His boots crunch on the ground as he moves to the altar-like stone and you see him take in the smoke you have seen. For a few seconds he watches the smoke waft then he turns his back to it and sits on the stone, hands clasped together as if waiting for something.

GM Then as one they stopped and dropped to the brass floor, clawed feet clinking one after the other on polished brass. They straightened to their full height as they landed and for the first time you could see them clearly without their erratic movements. Tall and thin, they looked like skeletons whose bones were made of stainless steel instead of calcium, long limbs ending in sharp looking claws. Blue tint ran through their bones, reflecting off the light as if it were veins made of cobalt rock. It cooled as they stopped moving and so did their one red eye cool down. It took up most of the space that was their head, looking just like an angular skull would. Their jaws loosened too, long and sharp teeth in a row hanging from the skull. And they stood, silent in their vigil. The sounds of clawing from behind Ouroboros' fiery obstacle had ceased as well and so too had the sounds of hammering from the doorway leading to the inner forcefield. It was from this doorway that an eye flew into the chamber soon after the drones had cooled down. And unlike the drones that stood inert around you, this eye was heavily pixelated, like something rendered it out of an old 8-bit video game. It's surface was black and dull, and a bright light shone from where its pupil would have been. As one, all the drones in the chamber snapped their heads to the eye. You could see them ready to fight once more. "Alert! Unauthorized entr--" But before anymore of the alarm could be raised you hear a woman's voice speak from the eye, drowning the drone's own alarm. "Initiate Code 87B-21TR. Shatak. Ra. Ios-45. Shenlong. Pink." It was almost bored as it rattled off the code but at the last word the drones all snapped to attention, stock still as if in a parade. Then they pivoted on their heels and marched back towards the doorway they had come from, merging into single file before returning to their own dimension. The eye flew to the doorway and from its pupil a set of pixel lines shot out, moving in angles before they converged on the lip of the doorway. Then it began to trace the doorway itself, melding it shut from this side of the two dimensions. "If these pests burst out one more time," the woman's voice began as if talking to herself. "I'm breaking them. Breaking them and finally working in peace." As all this was happening, the students' illusion stood, allowing them to take action or follow the real drones' lead.

GM For a moment or two he stands there, his arms even raised in a sort of stance, but as he takes a step forward to pursue you he wobbles before his leg gives way. He falls to his knees, unable to support his own weight. You see him struggle to stand up, to get his legs moving again. Then suddenly his body goes limp, as if he had gone to sleep, and he collapses face first to the ground. Though he still breathes, he moves no more. There is a rustle as Isa comes out of her hiding place, hosltering her own pistol. She walks up to you but you see her wince in pain with every step. She is covered in cuts and dirt from the tumble downhill and her clothes are in a similar state, ripped by branches and rocks. But a smile graces her lips as she looks down at the unconscious Neil, then back up at you. <Serves him right after how he used us.> Another wince. <But you don't look so good yourself either, Archaeologist. I'd ask you if you need help but...> And she turns towards the rest of the clearing, to the bodies of the Paruma and Kayara. <But there are questions that need answering before we leave this cursed place.>

Neil Toughness Save: DC 11. Uh huh. I believe that finishes him even without the Staggered condition.

Yeah, no contest with that Nat 20. Automatic success.

Well, you see a glint among the trees on the side and upon a second look you see Isa has climbed back up but not the way you've come from. She hides among the foliage as if hunting, but this isn't deer she's set her sights on. It's something Neil doesn't seem to notice either.

I love disgusting. And, huh, I apparently forgot to give them a proper paragraph description. But yes, they're person sized so no objections here. Looks like you guys are ending combat here.

GM "Bearing this?" He finishes your sentence and digs in his pocket and slips the ring into his ring finger, showing it to you. You see it glow a warm red as your the ring on your hand has done before, but it seems to not give Neil any discomfort. "I feel better than I have in years but... increased aggressiveness." He wraps you in a bear hug. "You feel the blood pumping in your veins." "I don't pretend to know about curses and wealth but I know fights, Snakebite." He grunts almost teethering over with the effort. "And you lose."

Neil Grapple Attack: 26 Grapple: 29 Isa Aims *** Neil's going to try to grapple Snakevite again. Roll an oppossed Grapple against DC 29 to see if you can break it. Also, roll me Notice.

GM They swarmed through the doorway and over each other dozens of the defense drones, jaws snapping and claws scrapping against each other to create this unholy cacophany of sound. Yet their movements were not those of a wild horde, mowing through everything in its wake in brutal abandon. The drones moved as one being, fractals and patterns as they dove and leaped, sprinted and climbed over one another. Not one drone hampered another's movements. But before they crossed the chamber to reach the teens, Veronica unleashed the finished spell from her trinkets. The verdant emerald wave pulsed outward, past her fellow students and into the incoming horde. The first wave were disintegrated, one second they were bearing down then the next they were nothing but fine dust to be pushed aside by their fellows. The second corroded their limbs into rust, holding the drones fast in place. It gave Ouroboros the opening he needed to craft a barrier of flames against the doorway they had opened. Not too soon as frenzied claws ripped and tore at the magical construct. But it held for the time being. It left the teenagers in the chamber with merely half of the drones which had come through, and seeing their fellow defences barred from entry they turned their killing intent on the creator of the flames. Red eyes that glowed with menace, metallic skin ready to be slick with vampire's blood. They bore down on Ouroboros with the intent to shred and kill. Half of them leaped in the air, borne by their comrades to descend on the vampire from above and behind. The rest took the fight head on. (OOC: I think I should do IC posts after every PC IC during combat if done on a round by round basis. It helps set the scene.)

Neil Sense Motive: 17. Fail. Shift Defensive -2 Attack/+2 Defence Attack (Non-Lethal): 26. Hits. Toughness Save: DC 22.

GM Neil regained his footing and he spat a glob of blood to the ground before raising his arms to enter into a classic boxer's stance. That was close, too close to being knocked around and put out in one go like an amateur. He felt woozy, like a drunk after too many bottles and too little sleep. His vision blurred between the moving Snakebite and a creeping blackness, but he gritted his teeth and pushed past it. "Look at you, judging me from your high throne, as if you could understand what it is like to be a normal person, looking in from your world without understanding." He circled you as he spoke, watching for an opening, watching as Snakebite danced, barely following her moves. "You know you'd destroy anyone normal with your Lemurian blood. So, yeah, I accepted the treatments to keep up with metahumans like you." Then he steps into reach, punching experimentally to prod an opening. "As if you'd understand." Left jab. "The means you'd take to accomplish an end." Right straight. "As if you weren't fed through a silver platter your whole life." A hook to your trunk. "As if you didn't have the riches and the genes to be the Snakebite!"

My bad, apparently I forgot he 10 minions here. Just assume they Delay until after Ouroboros and Fox. They'll all swarm Ouroboros after seeing him put up the barrier.

Ohh, time to look up Objects and Breaking Objects rules. While I do that, @Fox, it's your turn.

Neil Sense Motive: 9 Attack Hits. Toughness Save: 12. Neil is now Dazed and Staggered.

Isa's Climb Roll: 9 In the split second he judo throws her, Neil has his back turned from you. I'll give him a -2 Defence.

GM You feel a rib budge but before you could follow through and end the fight Neil rolls with your kick with a grunt. He stumbles nonetheless from the force, his footing unsteady. You see him grimace in pain, his hand going up to where your foot connected. He tries to speak but a hacking cough interrupts him. Yet he has enough sense of mind to duck to the side as another of Isa's bullets fly past where he just was. He keeps you as a barrier. Then Isa rushes past you, the melee too risky to shoot in, and tries to push him off the clearing. But grabs her by the arm and, flipping her over his shoulder, uses her momentum to throw her away. She crashes through the foliage and doesn't stop, her fall turning into a violent tumble down the incline the two of you had just climbed from. Then with a heavy thud that you hear with your Lemurian senses, the crashing ends. Neil's manuever exposes his back to you and as he pivots back toward you, you hear him mutter darkly. "Annoying girl..."

Neil: 17. Which means he's Bruised. Isa Slam (-2 Defence, +2 Damage, Non-lethal): 24. Crit. Damage to Neil: 23 Damage to Self: 18 Toughness Save: 19 Neil Toughness Save: 29 Grapple Attack: 18. Hit. Grapple: 27 Throws Isa back down the path you came from. Isa Oppossed Grapple: 21

Grapple Roll: 32 Yours would be a 34 with Neil's Improved Pin, but it still succeeds. Alas, I won't get to throw anyone off an incline. *** Here's a really rough image of the top before the fighting started.

She was expecting a reply from her father as she got in but... nothing. It wa eerie, honestly, and she realized that she was used to seeing him there and it was kind of comforting, for some level of weird that feeling was. She had streamlined its warm-up sequences, allowing it to brought to the action faster, but this was the first test in field conditions and she needed to make sure nothing would break apart. Here and there, screens showed the Claremont wards flicker and break, only to be replaced by whatever dark holiday magic accompanied the Krampus. Another set of screens showed many students rally under its physical and magical shadow, already beginning to fight it. More screens opened in her mind's eye. Bellios began to move, joints creaking, engines roaring. Her thrusters flared and Nicole smirked, zooming into the thing on the Krampus' back. "The Basket of Ancient Winters is the sole artifact it'd brought," muttering to herself out of habit now that her father wasn't here to listen. "Let's make sure it doesn't get to use it on the kids."

GM Neil dashes forward as you pull the trigger and he ducks to the side, the poison-tipped dart to merely scratching his shoulder. He doesn't even seem to notice as intent as he is for you. Isa shoots immediately after you but her shots trail Neil's dash, rounds zipping by where he was moments before. Then he slams into you, fists flying in quick succession, his large fists impacting your torso, your arms, like sledgehammers. He sidesteps to behind you, putting you between him and Isa, then grabs your neck in a two-arm hold. "A past I escaped from, Crow." He wheezes into your ear. You feel the hairs of his beard, coarse and caked with sweat, prickle your skin. "Most of them apply to you or will you tell me everything you do for the British Museum is out of charity?" Isa flanks to your side, her pistol raised and looking for an opening, but Neil forces you to turn and stay in front of Isa's sights. His nails dig down.

Neil: 21 Snakebite: 19 Isa: 18 Because *** 1st ROUND Neil Trade -2 Attack/+2 Damage Unarmed Attack (Nonlethal): 22. Hit. Damage: 23 Fortitude Save: 23. Saved. Isa Shoot (Lethal): 8. Miss. 2nd ROUND Neil Aggressive Stance (-4 Defence, +2 Attack Bonus) Grapple Attack: 30. Hit. Grapple: 28. *** For the 1st ROUND do a Toughness save against DC 23. Remember, Snakebite's Bruised and Injured from the last fight so you take a -1 on the save. Then for the 2nd ROUND Grapple against DC 28.

Hey @angrydurf, don't forget your IC post! And don't forget the general actions of Veronica, @Thevshi. Also, since she suggested it can you make a power that would hide/disguise you guys? Unless you want to pass it on to Fox, since it's Masque's specialty.