Devil In The Dark(IC)

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

William and the captain looked at each other uncertainly. "... No... nothing here springs to attention." William replied.

 

"Well... I suppose it makes sense." Dennis added.

 

"What do you mean?" The Captain asked, curious herself about the disaster that had befallen the village, so many years ago.

 

"It's just that the residents left, as soon as the fire subsided."

 

"But... doesn't that seem weird to you? I mean, accidents happen, and the villagers could easily rebuild their homes, at little to no monetary cost, no? Why go to the trouble and leave from here? What would drive them out of the island?"

 

"Search me." Dennis just raised his shoulders, as he shrugged.

 

"Really, we only know of this from mister Movida, who says he heard of it from master Acheron's lawyer, back when they were going through the red tape to aqcuire the deeds to this land." Pedro further explained.

 

"Hmmm... seeing as we have no internet connection here, it would be nigh impossible to find out exactly what happened back then." William slumped back on his seat.

[Supercape]

"They left because they knew something" answered Carmen, pretty sure of herself. There was no other explanation to hand, and clearly something had spooked them. A fire was bad, but not enough to make a whole village up and leave on its own. 

 

"Maybe they knew what caused the fire. Maybe it was no accident"

 

That would be the best guess. 

 

"Well, I don't think we can get much more from this place" she said, a little disappointed. Still, they were getting somewhere. 

 

"Following in the footsteps of master Phelegthon, whoever he might be. I wonder if we should check out that cave...although I'm not looking forward to the hike" she said, feeling exhausted. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The Captain looked sympathetically at Carmen. "Well, let's not get too hasty, miss Canto. We still haven't combed the rest of the village. I doubt this trivia is the best that we can find, but even on the off chance that it is, we should just make sure, rather than aimlessly going back and forth."

 

"I dunno, Captain. Don't seem like we can make heads or tails of whatever it is we're gonna find here." William said in response

 

"Better safe than sorry, is what I'm saying." the Captain defended her opinion. "For whatever reason, the demons don't seem to be causing any ruckus while it's morning. Maybe they lay dormant in their hideout. Maybe they're dismissed to the dimension from whence they came, only to be summoned again at a later time. Or maybe they transformed into animals and trees, waiting for us to properly expose our necks. Bottom line is, they came here for some reason, and until we find why, we can't hope to properly and permanently deal with them."

 

"... tsk. Waste of our time..." William said, but it was obvious that this was simply out of protest.

 

"Umm... Did you guys bring a child with you?"

 

Both William and the Captain turned to look at Pedro and Dennis, who were both looking towards what once had been the entrance door for this building.

 

"..." the Captain went.

 

"..." William agreed.

 

"A child. Did you guys bring a child with you?" Pedro repeated the question.

 

Looking at each other, William and the Captain both paroted "... a child?"

 

"Yes."

 

"You're asking us?"

 

"Yep."

 

"... What?" Both William and the Captain looked at where the two servants had their gazes fixed. "Just what exactly is it that you are looking at?"

 

"There's a child there."

 

"At the entrance?"

 

"Yeah! Can't you see it?"

 

Both William and the Captain looked uncertainly at one another. "No." "I can honestly say, I don't see anything."

 

"But... but it's right there!"

 

The child from the night before looked at Carmen, but whereas he wore a serene yet sad face then, now, his face was full of dread and hesitation.

[Supercape]

Carmen paused, feeling a coldness of fear. 

 

"I see it" she said, firmly, to Pedro. That the others could not - well, that was not a shocker, but she couldn't understand it right now. Like so many things on the island. 

 

"Kid, its daylight now. You should be less scared, not more!" she said, wondering just who she was talking to. Everybody, perhaps. Including herself. 

 

She took a hesitant step towards the child, then another, and held out her hand, bending slightly. 

 

"You certainly don't have to be scared of me" she said, again wondering exactly how true that was, but jamming such insecurities tight within her. 

 

"What's you name?"

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The two servants seemed somewhat relieved that at least Carmen was able to see the boy. At least they were not crazy. The Captain and William Smithson, on the other hand, looked even more perplexed and puzzled than before; after all, if this was a supernatural occurance, it would certainly make sense for Carmen to be able to percieve it, given her own... supernatural talents, but for the two servants to be able to see the boy as well, as they claimed? When they themselves couldn't? Was this some kind of mass hallucination? Why would it target only the servants and the reporter, and not the ship crew? Or was something else going on.

 

As for the boy himself, he hesitated, but after a moment or two passed, he finally replied. "Felipe... Louis... Felipe-Louis. Be careful. My brother is not well. He's watching you even now, as we speak. You have to stop him! You... you have to help him!"

 

Tazel simply observed the transpiring events, keeping quiet all the way.

[Supercape]

Carmen felt Tazel's silence and for once, felt like she wanted his words of...

 

...wisdom?

 

No. But perhaps just his voice. The lying snake would twist everything around, of course, but somehow, she wanted his company. 

 

Tazel, I'm sure you have a thing or two to laugh at now? Consider yourself free to laugh. 

 

She straightened up in front of Felipe. 

 

"Your brother? Georges?" she asked, looking around in response to Felipes words. They were creepy words. 

 

"I can stop him and help him, Felipe. But why is he...doing all of...this?" she asked, waving her arms around, lost for words. She wondered just what the child understood, and what he would understand. And she didn't want to frighten him more. 

 

"And what has..err...Acheron...errr...." she struggled "...George Louis....errr...." she faltered. 

 

Who was Archeron? was he Georges? or just named after the two twins?

 

"...never mind..." she finished, weakly. 

 

"Why is Georges doing all of this?" she asked again, steering herself back to a question the child could hopefully answer. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

Well, master, I don't have anything else to say, other than this conversation you're having is a dead end.

 

There was very little of Tazel's dry and rude wit in that statement. The little imp seemed to have bitten its forked tongue. He certainly wasn't in the mood for chit-chat.

 

Neither was the boy, come to think of it. He merely nodded in confirmation at Georges, his brother's name. "He wants to replicate what happened back then, when we were alive. And for that, he needs a potent conduit... you."

 

Dennis and Pedro were lost in a metaphorical sea. The Captain and William were even more lost, their ears perking up at the mention of the recently deceased Acheron, but otherwise remaining at the dark in regards to the full scope of the conversation.

 

*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*

 

The sound of bells echoed soundly throughout the village. "Wait... is someone at the church?" The Captain asked.

 

"The church? No, the bells of the church have a more crystalic sound, whereas this is more coarse and rusted... this is the village watchtower!" Dennis explained.

 

"...! Oh no... they're here! Please be careful." The boy gasped, as it ran away.

[Supercape]

Carmen actually smiled at Dennis for a moment. 

 

"What are you? a church bell ringer in your day off? when did you become an expert on church bells?" she asked, half teasing him. Still, his insight was of use. And she didn't fancy having Tazel wait outside the church whilst she went to investigate. 

 

"Lock and load then ladies and gents...and keep your heads up!" she commanded. 

 

Fire me up Tazel! she commanded the imp, ignoring his quip. Once again, she felt the infernal fire course through her blood, warming her and filling her with power, as smoke and tongues of flame poured from her body. 

 

"The kid said be careful, and that sounds like mighty fine advice to me! Lets go see what the watchtower has to say for itself. Because something is apparently watching us..."

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

"Ah, not as much, miss Canto." Dennis explained. "Master Acheron was very fond of the Church's sound, and after sampling it for one of his songs, he insisted that we always keep it in good maintenance."

 

"Because we obviously had nothing better to do." Pedro complained. "Like cleaning the rest of the mansion, dragging musical instruments all over the island, prepar-"

 

"Let's keep the history lessons to the bare minimum, shall we?" The Captain interjected, as she peeked from a window, next to the entrance of the building. "It seems that we've got company, and not the agreeable sort, if their leathery wings are any indication." she commented, pointing at the assortment of demonic imps gathering like swarms from behind the buildings on the other side of the street. "And what do we have there? Someone, or something, is hovering on the air, and ringing that bell on the watchtower. Whatever it is, it's got a cloak and a... pointy... hat? Smithson?"

 

"Already on it." replied William while on his way to the back of the building, on the top floor. He only had to glance at the windows there to see the oncoming demons. "Red coloured canines with fire for tails, emerging from the forest."

 

"We're surrounded." Pedro stated.

 

"Any escape route?" the Captain asked the two servents.

 

"Escape... ? No, not as much. There must be an underground banker behind the clerks' desk, but it's a dead end."

 

"Well, going in guns blazing won't do us much good either. We may take ten, twenty tops, but they're too many for us to tackle from a non-defensible position..." The captain said, pondering their next move.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Vahnyu

[Supercape]

GM 

 

There was not a lot of time to consider the options. Incoming from land and air. Carmen was thankful there was not a river or beach nearby. At least as far as she knew. 

 

"Who knows how many there are" she answered. "I don't like the sound of jamming us into a dead end. Sounds like a last stand going very wrong. Unless we can make that dead end open up...but if you are sure its dead..."

 

"The only way we ever get through this is finding out what's going on. It's getting clearer, but far from clear. We need to fight our way through, get to that watch tower, see what's going on there. I know it ain't pretty, but nothing is..."

 

She looked nervously at the crew and servants. It was a dark and bloody mess, and she would do her best to protect them...but who knew how many were coming for them? 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

Pedro, Dennis, the Captain, and William, all gathered up behind Carmen, clutching their riffles and holding their breaths. This was not going to be a cakewalk. Outside, the streets stirred, as loud explosions filled the area. The demons spread throughout the town, bumping into everything with their bodies, and wrecking the buildings in the process. Most of them seemed brutal, and bellow even animalistic levels of intelligence, but with a capacity for destruction that would put most combat units to shame. However, other than attacking indiscriminately, there didn't appear to be any particular aim or guidance on their work.

 

On the street to the immediate outside of the Public Records building, 10 demons had just arrived, 4 imps, 3 canines, and 3 ogre-like creatures, carrying tree trunks as makeshift clubs.

 

And as all this happened, Carmen's legs started feeling very weary...

[Supercape]

Pitch was out first, all smoke and rumbling fire in her belly. The immediate arrival of a group of demons did not fill her with joy. Whilst she was immune to hellfire, her charges were not. 

 

Too many...too many...

 

She would have been sweating, if the fire of Tazel had not been burning through her. 

 

These spawn would, she thought, be immune to any fire breathing tricks. She needed to cut them down, fast, quickly, all of them, not one by one. But exhaling fire would be worthless. 

 

She had never done it before, but desperation came to her. And the fear of her gun toting soldiers. She could feel them beside her, and those guns and bullets gave her inspiration. Drawing on the infernal forge, the realm of smoke, fire, hammers on metal, she decided to spit out something else. 

 

Taking a deep breath in, she gave out a powerful exhalation, this time blowing a storm of shrapnel - twisted, spinning fragments of blackened, razor sharp metal that spun out like dust over the demons. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The sharpnel flew with force, cutting everything in their way, from the streets to the buildings, in a greatly expansive area, catching 7 of the 10 demons in its unrelenting torrent. Only an ogre-like demon and an imp demon managed to avoid the onslaught of violently twisting sharp metal. Not letting their chance escape, Carmen's escorts opened fire, concetrating their efforts on the elusive imp, who seemed to be gaining on them with speed. Pedro's shot came dangerously close to wounding the creature, but it was William who struck true, killing the annoying flier, who burst into a blue coloured flame. "That's one for me."

 

This still meant that the ogre was unharmed, and he came charging towards Carmen, with all the grace of a dancing elephant, but making sure that he'd avoid the residual shrapnel by engaging her from her right side. At the same time, an imp came in flying from high above Carmen, while a canine approached her from her left, with a ferocious and sudden lunge. The last remaining ogre in the immediate area closed in at about 50 ft away from Carmen.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Vahnyu

[Supercape]

Pitch crouched ever so slightly, awaiting the onslaught. 

 

"Get behind me!" she shouted to her gunsling companions as the demons advanced. She spat out the last few shards of black metal from her mouth. They left a smoky, rusting flavour, she noticed. 

 

As the dog approached from the left she turned and jammed the Cantos Cane into its Jaw. The goats heat smoked and flamed, and sang a horrible latin verse in a wailing screech. 

 

"You are mine, dog!" she said, focussing her power onto the demon to chain it to her will, bind it to servitude. As she brought her power to bear, she felt and heard the imp flying above her, its horrible leather wings beating a horrible beat. 

 

She lost concentration, for a moment, turning to bat away the imp. And that seconds lapse lost the binding. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The annoying imp seemed to have frozen in place, thanks to Carmen's terrifying presence. This served to make the creature an even easier target for Carmen's escorts. Once more did the humans opened fire, and this time, the servants claimed two of the weaker demons. Smithson went for the big-tall-and-ugly demon that was working his way towards Carmen, and while the shot found its mark, the demon shrugged it off as if it was a mere pebble. Infuriated, the demon went on a charge, making a straight line towards Carmen, who was tangled with the other brutish demon. The two orcs tried to tackle Pitch at once, but their uncoordinated plan was telegraphed to the experienced demon-fighter, and their swing far too wide to be of any real threat to her.

[Supercape]

Pitch took in the frenzied rain of bullets that followed her and splayed into the demons around her. It was hard to predict exactly what shape, size, and form a demon took. Laws of reality were torn up around them. She was damn glad bullets seemed to hurt them, though. 

 

"Keep firing!" she said, not looking behind her. A small part of her brain wondered just how much ammunition they had. She hoped it was enough, but they could be in for a lot more. 

 

As the smoke and fire of Tazel washed over her, she crouched forward and tried to jam the Cantos Cane into the ogre. The hissing screech of the cane once more pierced the air, a horrible tritone in a horrible language. This time, she pushed forth with all her might, concentrating on subduing the demon. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

William and the two servants struggled to get a good ping for the two large demons. Although they were large and made for a clear target, they were tangled too close to Carmen, making their chances of hitting their marks significantly more dangerous for the journalist. "Ehhh... Captain?" William asked.

 

"..." Although a bit hesitant at first, seeing Carmen passify one of the two brutes under her command put the Captain of the S.S.Gadelica at ease. "Hold fire, and back away. If they disengage miss Canto and you get a clear shot, take it. Otherwise, let her handle them. Pedro and Dennis, you two keep watch on our backs."

 

The three of them complied, taking some distance from Carmen, and making sure they had all five directions, including the sky, under their sights. The rampaging demon, meanwhile, tried another swipe at Carmen, but this time it was even more wide, almost hitting its enthralled brethren, who simply stood with what could possibly pass as a vacant look on its face.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Vahnyu

[Supercape]

Pitch was full of the heat of battle. She had been in plenty of scraps, brawls, and fights, but this felt like a war. A new experience, unwanted, uncalled, but full of adrenaline soaked excitement all the same.

She summoned forth a wicked lance of smouldering steel, throwing it at the last demon like an arrow or rocket, with fury and force.

She heard rather than saw the slump of skewered demon, as she turned to the demon that she had bound with her cane. There was no time to question the beast, and it was but a foot soldier, likely to be absent insight.

"Kill all demons" she ordered it, simply. "You are bound to obey!"

With that, she pointed to the bell tower and spoke to the militia behind her. "Quick, whilst we have space to breathe...lets get cover!"

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The hulking demon only let out a snarl, before turning around, and intercepting a flame-tailed fox that found its way to the main street. The wild beast lunged at the ogre, intent on taking a huge chank of meat from the enthralled demon, only to find its teeth lodging on the ogre's fist, before its punch deformed the fox's face. The giant then followed up by smashing the tree it carried on the beast's ribcage, causing the blue fire to claim its remains.

 

Pedro and Dennis breathed a brief, if premature, sigh of relief, before realising that the others had already started ahead. The closest buildings were three houses, although ramshackles would be a better description. They were both three-storied, with the top floors' roofs completely destroyed, and their windows appeared to be broken. Only one building still had a standing door, and that was barely holding up on its hinges. A bit further, the village center was being run over by flying implings and eagles with draconian heads, though behind that laid the village school, which seemed in a somewhat better condition than all other buildings they'd seen so far. Meanwhile the entrance to the village was barred by rampaging elephants, covered in giant turtle shells with protruding spikes, and having a tail similar to that of a scorpion.

 

"We better find a good place to hide, before they notice and gang up on us." William noted.

 

The Captain frantically looked, in the hopes of finding a good hideout. "... Wait, over there! Between the two buildings!" following her gaze, Williams and Carmen saw that she was pointing at a fissure behind the two buildings, probably a river, accessible from the opening between two of the houses. "We can climb down there and use the tight space to our advantage."

 

"Dunno, Captain. We don't know how deep the chasm is, nor how strong the water flows. Seems dangerous."

 

"More dangerous than here?"

 

"Gkh...." William simply clenched his teeth, as he still surveyed the area, in the vain hopes of finding a better alternative.

 

All the while, the magician on the top of the watchtower finally stopped ringing the bell.

[Supercape]

"Running...running...running...."

 

"Aside from the fact I'm no good at it, we can't just run. Sooner or later, we will run out of space to run" she reasoned. "I want to know who is ringing that damn bell!"

 

The ringing had stopped. 

 

"Blast...or who isn't ringing it...."

 

There was, of course, a horde of demons between her and the bell tower. 

 

"We need to hide then, get there slowly, out of sight. Means we need a distraction. 

 

With a fling of her hand into a point, and a barked command, she sent the enthralled Demon hurtling towards the bulk of the demons. He wasn't attacking, just flinging his arms and tree trunk around, screaming and shouting.

 

A distraction. 

 

"Lets go...I don't know how long we have. Building by building, shadow by shadow...lets get to that tower!"

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

The enchanted Hulking Demon crushed like the tidal wave on the attacking creatures, felling quite a few of the damned beasts as he clumsily did so. Without wasting a moment, the group ran for cover, under the ongoing hail, using the two buildings to its advantage, before making the jump down the fissure. The fissure was indeed a river, one that must have been deep and overflowing once upon a time. Now, only a small stream, not even 2 feet deep, and barely more than 17 feet wide, the nearly dried up river could offer not only protection for the humans, but also a means of relocation, and maybe even escape.

 

As the demons further rampaged through the village, the search party and Carmen were finally getting a much needed reprieve. "This is insane! Do you hear that? There's more'n a hundred of those things." William noted. "Do you think we can make a run for it, while they are busy tearing the place appart?"

 

"... Somehow." The Captain noted, pointing at Pedro and Dennis, who were visibly shaken, "I doubt that it's a viable idea. And even if we did get out of here, miss Canto is right; we need to find out who that guy in the robes is. Maybe he's the one responsible for the demons overrunning the island."

 

"Maybe..."

 

"... At any rate, what I don't get is how they found us. Considering that they came in droves in what was supposed to be an abandoned area, I doubt that they just happened to pop up."

 

"Well... do you think they were following us then?"

 

"No, impossible. They'd have attacked us long before, and even then, we would have sniffed them coming."

[Supercape]

The possibility of making a run for it, or indeed a swim for it, was tempting indeed. But running, running, forever was not an option. Especially for her. Sooner or later, their luck would run out. And the more they ran, the more tired they were get. 

 

"No...no..." she gasped, fighting for breath despite Tazels power bubbling up in her. "We can't keep running...keep hiding....we have to find..."

 

pant pant

 

"What is going on here. We have to stop it. If not for ourselves, then the world. This place is overrun...and we don't know why....it could spell disaster...."

 

She steeled herself and controlled her breathing. "This has to end...one way or another! That bell....that man....he may just have the key. In any case, I have to know. We have to know!"

 

Biting down on the pain and her will, she stomped forth to the tower...

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

"Then, let us follow the river until we get closer to the East Gate of the village." Said Pedro. "From there, we can make a run straight to the tower, and hopefully, avoid most traffic before finding that robed fella."

 

The Captain didn't need to consider it. "Then let us waste no more time."

 

Steeling themselves for the trial ahead, the group nodded in agreement. Even Pedro and Dennis looked ready and determined, though the latter still seemed a bit shaken in the legs. Nevertheless, the time for action was now, and amidst the morning hail and storm, the group followed Carmen's lead. By the time they managed to climb out of the river, some demons had jumped inside the fissure, only barely missing the humans.

 

Here they come, Master. Tazel cautioned, and five hulking demons that looked like bears with elephantine heads and insect-like wings came into view. They appeared to be guarding the street directly bellow the Bell Tower, and they were equipped with Ancient Roman-era armour and weapons.

 

"You may think your Journey rife with Possibilities, Daughter of the Cursed Cane, but you will soon come to realize that it is but a Fool's Errant." Came an otherworldly voice from above. The robed... man?... was floating quite a few feet away from the bell tower, at about 70 feet above the street level. Carmen had a clear view of him from bellow, and it appeared that the robes were... hollow on the inside. Only shadows seemed to occupy the grab of the robbed man. What stood out the most, however, where four items that seemed to float around the wizard, surrounding him like satellites. A black and red disk the size of a plate, a green coloured chalice that oozed a bluish substance that seemed both gas and liguid at the same time, a short orange wand, and a distortedly curved ashen grey sword.

 

Heeeeh hehehehehe... Interesting. Veeeery interesting. A human this wizard is not, but neither a demon. The imp noted.

[Supercape]

"Demons and Sorcerers. I feel like I'm in the middle ages" sniffed Pitch, giving the command...

 

FIre me up!

 

To the scurrilous demon dwelling inside her. The flames and smoke bubbled and hissed, and the sulfur and warmth spread through her bones and flesh. 

 

"And this guy knows far to much about me" she commented, hand gripping the Cantos cane. He was not wrong. It was a devil stick that brought more woe than it was worth. 

 

Still, once you dove in...

 

"Well, I'll be the judge of that, Mister spooky!" she shouted up at the floating robes. Whatever it was. At least it wasn't throwing lightning bolts or fireballs down at her. 

 

"Ring a ding dong! I'm gonna take a look at that bell!" she said defiantly, and marched towards the sentry demons!

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

"Do as you wish, Daughter of the Cursed Cane. But can you really afford to be so boisterous, when your wards are so exposed?"

 

The Magician simply waved his hand with mild interest, and on that signal, the sentinel demons charged in, swords and lances raised, as they tried to cut Carmen and the humans into minced meat. The two sentinel demons attacked Pitch from each side, in an attempt to blindside her. The blows came forcefully, but with very little finesse, one aiming to hit Pitch on her stomach, and the other attempting to cleave through her head. While Carmen's attention was occupied, the other three demons flew right past the infernal pressence of Pitch, and they went for Captain, Denis, and Pedro. The Captain, while not military, had some knowledge about close-quarters combat, and managed to avoid the swings that came her way, but Pedro and Denis weren't as lucky. A spear cut through Denis' shoulder, and the demon used the momentum to pin him on the ground. Denis let out a cry as the metal tore flesh and muscle alike, and cut through bone. Meanwhile Pedro had his chest slashed wide open, and the poor man whirled around himself before falling down. Whether the two humans where still alive or dead, it was difficult to say...