Zeitgeist Blue

Salvo's going to take a Full turn to suit up this round and that's it. IC post in a few hours!

GM <Then what are you waiting for, Crow.> Neil's unfolds his arms to his sides. He taunts you and you see his fingers twitch near his holstered revolver. <Use your weapons. Cede control to that blood of yours and pretend that tranq you hold would be something more lethal.> He spits to the ground beside him. <The Foundry want revenge on me. I stole their secrets of manufacturing their vaunted tech when I left. Sold them so they weren't so secret anymore. And now I'm betting that bronze-clad fascist, Talos, wants me back to make an example out of me.> <They have nothing to do with this temple. But I do and I'm just a man who cares for survival. Not my fault you lot had to deal with the beast. No one could have predicted that thing coming out of the temple but there's no use in crying over spilled milk now.> <Those were people I know!> Isa protests. <And now they're dead. You don't brush them away like that.> <I wasn't the one who killed them.> He repeats as his eyes flit between you and an incensed Isa. He licks dry lips, nervous in what seems to be a stand-off. <So, Crow, one last time, start shooting or get out of the way.> Slowly, his boot inches forward, crunching on the hard ground.

Can you roll me an Attack and Initiative? Do that if Snakebite's shooting and we'll be going into a fight scene.

Yep and yep. I'll put up Arcana's post after you and Fox, effectively Readying her action. And the 16 minions swarming the four PCs were the ones destroyed. There are 15 more coming.

GM <What? And do you expect me to tell you my whole life's story?> He replies, face redenning. <Everything I said was the truth and nothing more. But you don't get it do you? The things I need to do to keep myself one step ahead from my estranged employees. You don't and so maybe I should just--> He begins to step forward, menace emanating from his whole body. His arms raise, hair standing on end as if ready to leap forward. Then Isa cocks her pistol at him and he stops in his tracks, blinking as if to remind himself where he is. He composes himself but you still see the scowl on his face as he speaks. <It was a calculation, Crow. I can't and won't save everyone but I could have put a stop to it. And that's what I did, instead of dillydallying off to drive of a beast that would just come back again and again, whittling down your numbers until you were none at all. And it worked, didn't it?> Isa says, <Your words are not endearing yourself, foreigner.> <The truth isn't always nice. But fine,> and Neil throws up his hands in exasperation then slings his rucksack over his shoulders. <Fine, fine. Have it your way, Crow. You can have your ring. Wear it, store it away, do whatever you want with it. I don't care but I'll take my finds back to Peru and take what I can from them and you'll be nowhere near me when I do that. Hopefully it could compensate me for this whole mess.> He begins to walk forward, open hands raised in the air. <Get out of my way. I'm leaving.>

GM <Is it anyone's?> He asks, shrugging. <Its builders are long dead now. Death has a way of removing all pretense of ownership.> He switches as you do. "But I did most of the legwork to find it. I just needed your expertise to verify the finds, close the deal and get a legitimate museum in it. I only plan to go by Neil Kirkland as long as I can and more exposure means more risk." Isa glances at you from the corner of her eye. <If Uncle Doji were here he would be protesting about how that temple was our heritage, but I'm a more practical woman. My tribe is leaving and with what came out of it once I want to wash my hands off it.> <Thank you!> Neil gestures to Isa. But the woman only gives him a hard glare. <That wasn't for you, foreigner.> Unperturbed, Neil turns back to you. "Last time the priestess was still living her undeath. She's mostly gone now, I think, if the ceremony's supposed to do what it's for. Have you tried pulling it free now?" <I could help.> He takes a step forward but Isa raises her pistol at that and he reconsiders, stops. He folds his arms as if unpleased but doesn't move any further. "I consider it a long-term investment. A risk too considering how it affected you. The priestess told me it was supposed to access and store memories. It was a side-effect when the partner bound her too it. First, her memories, then expanding until it took the memories of the temple, then the past inhabitants and then the beast's victims." "There're so many options with that kind of ability." He shrugs. "So I want to find out if it's true and I think I'll do what I first suggested a week ago and find experts who can really tell me about it. See? Being careful." <Can someone speak in a language I understand?> Isa says from your side.

I'm not sure if this merits an HP but I'm poking Snakebite's Appropriator Complication. It's still up to you to decide if she'd find the ring or the temple more important to fulfill this Complication, or just choose to try the third option (to have your cake and eat it too).

GM "What I've done?" Neil says, incredulous as he looks at you. Then he switches to Spanish and gestures towards Kayara's body. <What I've done is to finish the ceremony. The priestess is dead, just as she wanted, and that beast is finally gone.> <But they left something behind, even as their souls go to their gods.> He removes his hand from his pocket and shows you a ring, identical to yours, held in between his forefinger and thumb. <Her partner's ring,> he explains. <The one who sacrificed her and felt so sorry he had tried and failed to right his wrongs.> He closes his hand around the ring and its red glow disappears underneath the fist he has made. <She gave it to me in her dying moments as the... price she would pay for the completion of her ritual. And now it is mine, along with what old magic resides in it.> He shakes his head, not denying your accusations. <No. And neither are you, Crow. You and I, we both live in the world of the the super-man, you could say. It takes a special someone to retire peacefully in that world, moreso when your work requires you to live and fight for super-criminals.> <I did. I'm done with that life and just want to make a new life, away from the battles and the crimes. The Foundry would probably kill me out of hand with everything I stole to get a head start. But this,> and he points at the Paruma. <Seems to me the super always finds a way back into your life.> He scoffs and smirks at your last line. Then he unslings his rucksack, filled with ancient valuables and his work, and with one hand holds it out towards you. <Then sing it over. Give me your ring, the priestess' own, and I'll give you the sole rights to the Cuespac temple find.> <You can give it to the British Museum and take full public credit for the find instead of sealing one half of a set behind closed doors in the basement forever.> His arms are open, unthreatening even as both you and Isa hold weapons, and his auburn beard bristles as he smiles. <What do you say?>

Salvo Fright Night at Claremont (2) Giant Krampus 2: Krampus Campus (1) The Essential Guide to Heroing (1) Welcome to the Starlight Room (1) With Black Curtains (2) GM Jungle Memories: Walking the Daydream (20) Through the Mirrored Glass and Back Again (4)

GM You burst into the clearing just as Neil fires his revolver. But you throw yourself to the side and the shot misses, kicking up dirt behind you. Isa is right behind you and she snaps up her own pistol and points it at Neil. <Stop!> Neil raises his hands then peers at the two of you and you see him realizing his mistake. His clothes are scratched and torn open by rocks and claws. Dirt cakes it and his skin and beard, as if he had fallen more than once. But besides the dirt and ripped clothes, Neil does not look the worse for wear. He gives you a crooked grin. "Oh Crow, I didn't know it was you." He begins to lower his hands but Isa's waves her pistol and he stops, staring at her, before he hangs his revolver on the pinkie finger of his hand. His other hand rises again and you notice he grips a tattered old book there. "It's okay. I'm just holstering my revolver. There's no need to get testy." Then, true to his word, he slowly lowers the revolver and places it back to its holster, slung around his waist. "Now," he says, glaring at Isa. "You can stop pointing that little pop shooter at me, Lady." It's quite a scene, you realize, in the rocky top as Neil and Isa square-off. Aside from Neil, the first thing that stands out is the Paruma, facedown on the ground as if dead, but you see no obvious wounds on its body. And right behind Neil, on a rock that would serve well enough as an altar, lies Kayara's body, a knife's hilt sticking out between her hands and into her stomach, as if she had held on to it until the very end. "It's finally nice for you to join me, or us more likely," Neil says before he turns back to Isa. "Ah, what the hell," he mutters. <It's done. All of it, but you didn't keep your head in the endgame, Crow. But maybe I should thank you for that, keeping this thing,> and he kicks a foot towards the Paruma <Busy while I finished what we came here for.> <I did not know you could speak Spanish,> Isa says, holding her own pistol pointed to the ground. <And Portuguese. And a number of different languages besides.>

I'd go with the scene transition.

And give me a Reflex Saving Throw!

GM As you run and climb up the path created by the Paruma before you, you strain your ears to hear what the voice is chanting. It seems a story or a myth, and as it continued the crashing ahead of you only intensified. It was definitely Neil's voice chanting in the wind, no doubt about that. You could hear the bass at the back of his throat, too many cigarettes turning it gravelly. But instead of his usual American he was speaking Spanish, and perhaps that was why it took so long for you to recognize it. <And so in the last hour of the day, when the three bells of the towers tolled nine times in grief, she escaped the belly of the beast.> Then the crashing ceases, only for the sound of gunshots to replace it. And Neil continued his chant, voice strained with effort. <Bloody and beaten but not broken, she emerged, and her husband, the god of the suns, came to her and comforted her. In his fury, he sought war against those who dared touch his wife.> <We're almost there to the peak,> Isa tells you, breaking your concentration, before she cocks her head at the chanting. <Do you hear that?> The gunshots had stopped, as had the scuffling. Only the lone voice of Neil chanting remains. <And so we give her our daughters, our children, in times of great calamity, so she may have the strength to do what must be done.> The voice becomes louder as you reach the peak, and you see the broken branches and brush pushed aside to reveal the open sky above. You climb over the lip to the rocky outcrop and Neil's chanting. <Just as we have given this daughter, wife, priest. May she guide us to the west as you rise once more over our world...>

Whew, yeah. That hits. It'll be up in the IC.

"Holy weapons," Salvo repeated curtly. "That's not something any of us could do unless anyone wants to reveal they're actually the child of a god right now." Salvo turned to look at Pan, her palms up as if asking the forever boy for an answer. "No takers?" Normally she was one for lecturing, but a year and a half in the hero business taught her the value of keeping your explanations short and your hustle shorter. No one liked a monolouger after all. She was the expert here, she realized, and someone everyone here would look to for an explanation even though Gauss was the Senior. She had the experience and knowledge when it came to reality beyond the natural. Behind the wards and layers of dimensions that made up her armour, it brought a smile to her face. She could indulge herself even a little. "What do you have for us, CG? You didn't get a sugar rush just now did you?" She called out to Crystal-Gazer as if the telepath could respond when she was deep inside someone's mind.

"Glad to hear it," Salvo said as she lowered her head to the point she was almost level with the shorter Gauss. "Least you know it already happened and in a better way." Salvo hummed at Gauss' question and whileshe waited for the other students to get their bearings. It sounded like an engine whirring, but she looked at Gauss as she put a score to their problem. "An eight if we play our cards right and don't do anything stupid. The short of it is Sam and company summoned an avatar of Baal, one of the bigger princes of Hell. Our best bet to bring Baal back to where it came from is to exorcise Sam's friends of their personal demons. We can also play lawyer and make a deal with the devil or we can beat Baal up but I don't want to try my hand at either of those things. We need lots of salt, and holy water and weapons if you know where we could find them. I don't so it's a trip to the kitchen we need to make." She tapped a finger on the palm of her hand as she waited for Crystal-Gazer to finish her jaunt inside Sam's head. "Mind powers are pretty scary. You could mess up someone's head if you do it the wrong way."

GM Doji rubs his chin as he thinks. Then he shrugs his shoulders. <If we are talking myths then perhaps the beast is the Paruma. And the woman then stands to be the Moon because it is always depicted as a motherly figure? That would only leave the man.> One of Anne's assistants rushes over to her to hand over a potion, contained inside a drinking canteen. Anne then hands it over to you with a shrug of her shoulders, clearly still not liking where this is going. <So here's what you wanted. Now shoo and leave me to my work!> And with this she turns on her heels and leaves the three of you standing outside her medical area. <That woman...> Doji watches her leave and returns his attention to you with a sigh. <Perhaps, but this is only my interpretation, but a man is always present in one of these stories and he and the woman play off each other. Sometimes it is the woman who initiates, sometimes the man. But as you described it, the man is the sacrificer. In this case the Paruma would be a tertiary comcern and the woman and man are the primary actors. Do not be fooled into thinking that just because one is bigger and stronger then it is always the most important.> He shrugs, as if unsure of himself, and you feel Isa's hand on your shoulder. <Thank you, Uncle Doji,> she says. <We shall keep what you said in mind. But for now, we must leave, yes?> The two of you leave for nearest land closest to the sky as the moon dips in its arc, signalling the close of the night. Isa explains to you the nearest such thing is a rocky outcropping atop a hill not far from where you had met with Kayara. She tells you when you near it and your eyes pick it up first in the darkness but it is not long after Isa sees it too. A path straight through the trees and underbrush, flattened to the ground, twigs and branches scattered as if they had been broken away. It looks as if something had forced itself through. Isa goes down on one knee and points to a set of tracks. <The beast created this and they were made not too long ago. We should hurry if we are to stop whatever's going to happen.> She stands up and unclips the pistol from its holster, checks that its magazine still has bullets and holsters it again. Meanwhile, you strain your ears and you hear deeper into the path the sound of running and underbrush breaking. And even farther from that a male voice chanting, too indistinct to hear the words, but the wind, as weak as it is, carries his voice. <Ready?> Isa asks you, unaware of the things you hear.

Salvo "Then stop trying to fix him," Salvo snapped at the petty thief as she held a hand to Gauss for the grimoire of rituals the Senior had taken. She saw that Gauss was pretty shaken from the demon's control of fear and she could only imagined what her friend saw in that one moment. "You going to be okay?" She asked in a softer tone as she took the grimoire. Then Salvo began flipping through the first few pages, steel fingers clumsy with such a delicate task, but she continued to flip through the grimoire, tearing several pages in the process. Pan's attempts too could do something similar if Sam's injuries proved worse than first glance. Crystal-Gazer's latest show of power was entirely undocumented from what Salvo knew and it even left her armour's wards glowing softly and strained after they had absorbed the mental emmissions from the attack. Most of the blast had been directed the demon's way but even then it could have hurt the other students and so there was no telling the effects on Sam's brain. "None of us knows first aid and even so, serves him right for what he's done." She snapped the tome shut and replayed the memories of the pages in her mind, walking to the ruined rec room doors behind Sam. She looked back at Crystal-Gazer's prone form, still shivering. "She going to be okay?" Salvo asked Gauss. "We need to get going yesterday and I'm not carrying an unconscious Sophie."

I'm am all for throwing caution to the wind and racing down there without doing any research. But in case the others aren't, Knowledge (Arcane Lore): 1d20+15 = 35 Whew, look at that Nat 20.

GM <She speaks of something that requires your potions, Healer Anne,> Isa says from beside you. At this point you notice many of those areound you trying to discreetly listen to this little conversation among the village elders, but so does Healer Anne and one angry glare from her is enough to get them scurrying back to work. She looks at the both of you with a skeptical look. Doji looks miffed and he is about to say something but the Healer speaks first. <I don't know anything about magic, foreigner. I'd stick to what I know, salves and herbs to heal.> She waves a hand as if dismissing you. <You stick to what you believe in and I won't bother you. That way, you won't bother me either when I'm trying to do my job.> Isa replies to this with renewed fervour. <I know you hold your trade and your patients in the greatest care but the Archaeologist is our best chance here. I'm too don't know anything about this but she had come to the aid of our rear guard. I would go so far to say that perhaps none of us there would have come out alive without her.> <Run, stay here, do what you think must be done but me and the Archaeologist will do what we can to stop the beast.> There is a pregnant pause as she finishes and Doji, quiet ever since, steps forward, hands buried in his pockets. He regards you as he speaks. <So I take it you weren't in cahoots with that orange-haired partner of yours?> He shakes his head. <Sorry, I should have known better. Either way, he had come to my hut before I had left and taken the potion and everything else he thought relevant to whatever this ceremony of yours is about. Most do not believe in Gods and Magic as you put it but I think with tonight none in this village can deny there is some sliver of truth to this.> <We'll decide what to do with the village then,> and he indicates himself and a scowling healer. <But I say give her one of your potions, Anne. One person would have to go through tonight in pain but that's a price we need to take if this ceremony can do something.> Faced with a three-person consensus against her, Anne can do nothing but reluctantly consent to access of her workstation. She nods and is about to say something. But you don't hear it as images flood your head again. Three perspectives, three set of eyes: the Beast, the Man, the Woman. One scene under the Moon, which dips low on the sky, deep into the early morning when even the dead sleep. You see the Beast attack the Man as he enters the end of his ritual. The Man attempts to fend of the Beast's assault as he simultaneously chants the last words by memory and word, clutching a journal in one hand and a machete in the other. But the Beast prevails and it stands over a bleeding, broken Man ready to deliver the fatal blow. But the Woman, forgotten by the combatants, takes out a once hidden dagger and stabs it hilt-deep into her own heart. The Beast stops as if struck dumb and it stays frozen as the Man and Woman dies. A ring appears in the Man's fingers... You come back to yourself, managing not to fa down this time, but you must have stumbled or lost consciousness for a brief moment as all three villagers look at you in confusion. <What's the matter?> Doji is the first to ask.

Out of 27. 11 made the Reflex Saving Throw. 16 did not make the Reflex Saving Throw. Of the 11, 6 made the Toughness Saving Throw. 5 did not. Of the 16, 4 made the Toughness Saving Throw. 12 did not. 17 destroyed defence sprites. For simplicity's sake let's say she caught all the sprites in melee in the attack. *** All gone. Veronica: 19 Arcana: 18 10 minions Ouroboros: 10 5 minions Masque: 4 And it's @Nick's turn. Don't forget to put Veronica's gist of tactics/actions? @Thevshi! *** Though if you guys do decide to not fight and instead run or hide or find another way then the summarized tactics aren't needed then. We'd just go straight to what you guys are going to do.

Salvo Nicole found herself driving her wheelchair down the hallway of her dorm on the eve of Christmas. She had told Pan to deposit his gift into the Christmas stocking that hung from her armrest and it snugly fit there. It was sweet and very much like him to give something as practical as wax polish. She smirked and tossed the flipped the polish around, playing with it as she whistled a tune. She on the otherhand, brought gifts wrapped in Christmas reds and greens inside a Santa Claus bag. They were items she created, small knick-knacks that a craftsman with a workshop could create, but quality ones nevertheless. Though she had to admit using some of her more... esoteric tools to create the trickier parts. A hand-sized Neverworld ship like Pan had shown her, pat down to the engravings, which swung on a steel fiber thread. For Gauss, a fully metallic Terminator inside a ballerina's box, joints articulated and something the magnetokinetic would be able to control. To her roommate, a baseball cap, a stylized arcane rune representing 'a person's soul made physical' or 'art' sewed in the front. To the dragon, an eternally dancing lick of flame and rock inside a snow globe. She went through the list down her mind as she gave them away, going through their technicalities and how to make her work not sound really dry when she explained how she went about creating them. So preoccupied was she that she did not react to the sky turning red and green hues and tinting her surroundings the same color. Only when she turned the corner to bump into Bellios was she shaken out of her zone. "Hey," she greeted him. It almost never appeared this way unless something dangerous was imminent and the hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. "What's this all about?" Then the building rattled and she looked out the window and saw a giant... thing, the rattling coinciding with its footfalls. It definitely wasn't here a second ago or she would have noticed it. "Oh damn. This doesn't look good." She had a sinking feeling about it and a growing suspicion, but now wasn't the time for thoughts and so she heaved herself forward for Bellios at the same time as it automatically readied itself. Gifts forgotten, wheelchair abandoned. "Seriously, right before Christmas? Can you believe this guy?" She asked her armour and its systems began to growl.

GM Isa gave the room a once over at your question. <Whoever left left in a hurry, but I never knew Uncle Doji to be so careless with his things. No, I don't know but whoever was here must have took them.> She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. <I suppose we could take some from Healer Anne, no matter my wounded. I told you I'd help and if you think that's what you need then we could take some from her.> She gives the room one last look before she leaves. You both take off into the night again, across the village and past it, and you follow Isa's lead as she runs a winding path to what seems a predetermined point. Soon, you come across a path trod upon with numerous feet, soil churned to mud, and the two of you take the same path. It isn't long before you come to the villagers. <Isa! Cassandra!> One of the sentries waves you over. <The rest who fought had just come back and the wounded are being treated right now. Did you come across what you were looking for?> Isa can only shake her head as you move past the sentry. It isn't what you would call a proper camp. There are no tents or structures, no fire pits or people settling down to sleep, content to go back to their lives in the morning. No. You see fear, families huddled together uncertain what the dawn would bring. Babies cry and adults watch you walk with weary eyes as they rest, ready to start their march away anew. The two of you stride to the middle of the encampment where most villagers seem to give a wide berth to. It is the field hosptial. Healer Anne's assisstants care for the wounded. Aside from those you had tended on your first night, several more from the fight with the Paruma share the space with fresh wounds and stitches. <Some of them will come out of this with scars and worse,> Isa comments but she seems intent to find some cheer in this. <But perhaps things would have been more dire if you had not come to help, yes? The beast seemed intent on running away after its short scuffle with you.> As you walk, you hear them first before you see them, and even without your enhanced hearing you doubt you could not miss their argument. <But we have to leave now!> Dojo's voice is pleading. <There's no telling what will happen next. We have to get as far away as we can.> <No,> Healer Anne's. <Now get out of my face. I have people to save. The journey won't be good for them.>

Just to clarify, I could assign my last IC post as my post for the first round. Nicole still has to suit up and running away could be her first round.

Initiative: 1d20-1 = 11