[20:06] <DiePotato> Artyom reports in full gear
[20:06] <ihp> Jacob wonders why the designations on the briefing rooms keep changing. Some weeks they're numbers, some weeks they're the Greek alphabet. Some consistency would be nice here. Then again, he's a werewolf that went up against a clown that lives in the airwaves, fights fairies on a regular basis, and… some third thing I'll come up with later.
[20:07] <%TeslaTornado> Ade reports in his typical suit, carrying his staff and a briefcase with some equipment in it. He looks younger still than he did before, and more vital somehow. He lights a cigarillo, as he's started carrying the lighter again, and replaced his cigarette case.
01[20:08] <@Nemi> The briefing room in question is indeed one of those odd Greek-lettered ones, completely breaking the usual numerical- or animal based- numbering scheme. The door's already open, and inside is a stout older gentleman in a grey suit and waistcoat. Beside him is a sunken-eyed, slender woman of indeterminate age in a long black wool coat. Appropriate for the subterranean temperatures, perhaps.
[20:09] <ihp> ~I'm not sure why a teenager is giving us our assignment.~
[20:10] <%Scantron> Larry reports in, sans much in the way of makeup or wigs or whatnot. He's dressed in a relatively tight shirt and pants, but not so tight as to be scandalous. A pistol in a holster and a water bottle clipped to a carabeener are on his belt. Could be anywhere from mid-twenties to mid-thirties.
03[20:10] * TesKin|Phone (~moc.rr.ser.ynts.93C8178B-CRInys|89tahCdnA#moc.rr.ser.ynts.93C8178B-CRInys|89tahCdnA) has joined #homeimprovement
[20:11] <DiePotato> Arty decided to forgo the cloak and is just in his normal Soviet military gear. Makarov in a shoulder holster, Tokarev on his hip, gauntlet dealie on his arm, and an AK slung across his back.
[20:13] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks to Artyom. "Good to know you're completely foregoing subtlety in favor of full battle rattle, agent Elkin."
[20:13] <%TeslaTornado> "That proved to be a great idea last time, didn't it?"
01[20:13] <@Nemi> The older gentleman humphs through his mustache. "We seem to be one short, don't we, dear?" The sunken-eyed woman gives him a bland look and shrugs. "We just called. Let's start."
[20:13] <DiePotato> "I like to be prepared."
[20:13] <DiePotato> "Does not mean I can't kill a man quietly still."
[20:13] <TesKin|Phone> Alim reports, carrying a duffle bag.
01[20:14] <@Nemi> "Well," says the older gentleman. Deep, somewhat blustery voice. "You certainly came, hm, promptly." The sunken-eyed woman beside him, poor posture, sallow skin, and stringy hair giving her a rather morbid air, takes over for him in a wan monotone. "Whatever. So." She looks to those present.
[20:14] <TesKin|Phone> He's in his usual atire, 2 piece suit, suspenders, and a blue tie.
[20:14] <%TeslaTornado> Ade blinks.
[20:14] <%TeslaTornado> "… Wow, I honestly didn't take you for that stupid."
[20:14] <%TeslaTornado> "At least get a duffel bag or something to throw all of that into so you aren't so horrendously conspicuous."
[20:15] <DiePotato> Arty rolls his eyes. "Fine. Let's just hear the briefing first."
01[20:15] <@Nemi> "Shut up. Thanks. We had an interesting tip from one of our agents who was inserted in the local sheriff's department. Not too far from here there's some.. ugh, it's the home of an anglophile. Union jacks, other nonsense all over. Owner disappears apparently into thin air. Sheriff's deputies check, find that his cellar door opens into roiling black fog."
[20:16] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Oh?
[20:16] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Oh?: 5 (4df+6=3+, 4-, 4-, 0)
[20:16] <TesKin|Phone> Alim takes notes.
01[20:17] <@Nemi> "So. We get that situation under control. And what do you know. We're trying to find Ways into the Wanderer's Library, and mister Briggs here-" she gestures to the portly man. "Happens to have had a dream from the Navigator telling him that the Way is past whatever that smoke is."
01[20:17] <@Nemi> "Which is weird, but I'm not questioning anomalous objects that are apparently always right."
[20:17] <ihp> "…wait, the Navigator is still a thing?"
[20:17] <%Scantron> "I was told it was."
03[20:17] * Roget (~ten.tsacmoc.lf.1dsh.D5888698-CRInys|tegoR#ten.tsacmoc.lf.1dsh.D5888698-CRInys|tegoR) has joined #homeimprovement
[20:17] <TesKin|Phone> "Do we know how long the smoke has been present in the target location."
[20:17] <%Scantron> Larry leans against a wall, arms folded.
[20:18] <ihp> 4df+4 Jacob's been around the block once or twice. Black fog?
[20:18] <Glacon> ihp: Jacob's been around the block once or twice. Black fog?: 4 (4df+4=3+, 4-, 4-, 3+)
03[20:18] * ChanServ sets mode: +qo Roget Roget
01[20:18] <@Nemi> "Yeah?" Cadaverous lady gives Jacob a flat look. "Right. This'll be day three. We've got the locals properly under control and have a cordon set up stating the building's condemned. Go in, figure out what the smoke's about, find that Way. You're first team in. Have fun."
[20:18] <%Scantron> Larry wouldn't know anything about black fog.
01[20:19] <@Nemi> Ade, Jacob: Roiling fog does seem pretty similar to some of the spatial portals being messed with recently.
[20:19] <%TeslaTornado> "Well, that's symptomatic of the spatial portals that you seem so fond of tinkering with."
01[20:19] <@Nemi> "You've got a van warmed up in Motorpool. Bring whatever. Priority is that Way."
[20:20] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks jeeringly at Artyom. "It would seem you get to be as unsubtle as you want today, agent Elkin."
[20:20] <%TeslaTornado> "Just do me a favor, and if you're planning on killing me as well, have the dignity to shoot me in the front, rather than the back."
[20:20] <%TeslaTornado> He stands and makes for the van.
[20:21] <%Scantron> "Save the drama for later, will you?" Larry follows after.
[20:21] <TesKin|Phone> Alim hefts his duffleand and heads out after Ade.
[20:21] <DiePotato> Arty heads for the motorpool
[20:21] <ihp> Jacob looks around. "…which way? You didn't point anywhere."
[20:21] <ihp> Jacob has literally never heard of "Ways" in this context.
01[20:21] <@Nemi> "Don't be dense, Wexley."
01[20:21] <@Nemi> "Ways. Special kind of gate."
[20:21] <ihp> "…oh."
01[20:21] <@Nemi> "Get going."
[20:22] <ihp> Jacob frowns, and grumbles about how he's been busy, before heading to his room to get a tranq gun. Just in case.
[20:22] <%Scantron> Larry's tone is mostly flat, and his accent is noticeable but implacable.
03[20:22] * Vivax (rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT#rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT) has joined #homeimprovement
03[20:22] * ChanServ sets mode: +ao Vivax Vivax
01[20:22] <@Nemi> The van is labeled with a Dutchess County Sheriff's Department insignia. Neat. There's a uniformed man sitting in the front seat.
[20:23] <ihp> Jacob makes a mental note to actually invest in some tactical gear one of these days.
[20:23] <ihp> Preferably something with a labcoat-like cape.
01[20:23] <@Nemi> NO CAPES.
02[20:23] * &Vivax (rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT#rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT) Quit (Connection reset by peer)
[20:23] <%TeslaTornado> (hue)
[20:24] <%TeslaTornado> Ade makes a mental note - several mental notes, really, more like a mental encyclopedia's worth of notes - on times when it is and isn't appropriate for people to wear full combat gear on an operation.
[20:24] <%TeslaTornado> He folds himself into the van and sets the briefcase on his lap.
[20:25] <TesKin|Phone> Alim sits next to Ade, setting the duffle in front of him.
[20:25] <ihp> Jacob /always/ wears a lab coat. He looks through his own briefcase.
03[20:25] * Vivax (rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT#rewsna.na.rof.gnitiaw.ydobon|gniklaT) has joined #homeimprovement
03[20:25] * ChanServ sets mode: +ao Vivax Vivax
[20:25] <%Scantron> Larry ends up sitting next to Ade. Folds his fingers together, twiddles his thumbs.
01[20:25] <@Nemi> Anyway, assuming everyone gets their rears in gear, the trip is about fifty minutes, going through small town rural New York. It's very pretty this time of year. Too bad it's dark enough that you miss nearly all of it. Finally, the van pulls up to a stop by what appears to be a line of police tape, with some sheriff's department vehicles parked outside. Warning signs illuminated by low lamps indicate that the site is both unsafe for habitation and a crime scene.
02[20:26] * KadeLeMuse (~chatzilla@CA8E5EEE:1DF1B86C:58E86C47:IP) Quit (Client exited)
01[20:26] <@Nemi> A single union jack on a brass pole above the deck of this old Victorian two-floor sways pathetically on the breeze. The driver pulls the brake and shuts off the vehicle as a man in a sheriff's department uniform approaches. "This our go team?" "Yessir."
[20:27] <TesKin|Phone> Alim dismounts, hefting his duffle bag.
[20:27] <DiePotato> Arty hops out and waits for directions
[20:27] <ihp> Jacob has his briefcase strapped to his back, like usual.
01[20:27] <@Nemi> "Alright. Psi-7. We've got this area secure, you shouldn't worry about anyone interfering or coming in behind you. We'll be available for backup— got some highpowered radios here, should be able to pick up your handhelds wherever the smoke leads. Stinks like goddamn rotten eggs.."
[20:27] <%Scantron> Larry's out next.
[20:27] <%Scantron> "Lovely."
[20:27] <ihp> Jacob frowns, and puts his head in his hands.
[20:28] <ihp> "…are you telling me that it smells like brimstone?"
[20:28] <%TeslaTornado> "Fire, brimstone, black smoke."
[20:28] <DiePotato> ~Sulfur. Amazing~
[20:28] <ihp> Jacob looks at the sheriff. "…call a priest."
[20:28] <%TeslaTornado> "I love this already." Ade folds himself out of the van, going for the radio.
[20:28] <%TeslaTornado> "You'd need a whole parish."
01[20:29] <@Nemi> As the 'sheriff' says this, he nods. Jacob, you can smell it wafting strongly through the air from behind the back of the building. "Better. We called an exorcist. Should be here soon. Meantime, you've got your orders." In fact, everyone can smell faint vestiges of the lovely sulfuric scent. One must pity the agents securing the site.
[20:29] <TesKin|Phone> Alim follows Ade, snagging a raido and clipping it to his belt.
[20:29] <DiePotato> Artyom grabs a radio and puts it on his belt.
03[20:29] * Vivax is now known as vOv
01[20:30] <@Nemi> "It's right around back. There's gas masks and spare filters just behind me. Don't want you walking into shitsmell city without protection."
[20:30] <ihp> Jacob clips the radio to the pocket on his shirt.
[20:30] <ihp> Jacob then puts on a respirator of his own. "I've got myself covered, here."
[20:30] <%Scantron> Larry sniffs and rolls his eyes, then takes a radio. His belt is getting crowded; he takes his water bottle off the hook and chugs it down. Tosses it in the van.
[20:31] <%TeslaTornado> Ade goes and gets a gas mask and a few filters, which he adds to his briefcase - flashlight, coil of rope, compass, knife.
[20:31] <TesKin|Phone> Alim sticks a mask wherever it'll fit and grabs a coupple filters.
[20:31] <DiePotato> Arty grabs a gasmask and two spare respirators ~Wish I had a watch so I knew when to change these out…~
03[20:32] * vOv is now known as Vivax
[20:32] <%Scantron> Larry grabs himself a gas mask and some filters and whatnot.
01[20:32] <@Nemi> It lands with a metallic clunk. "All on you. Doors are closed right now, only thing cutting the smell a bit." The house itself looks to be in fairly decent shape. Slightly cracking and peeling white paint on the wooden siding, slate shingles, power lines running from above to the telephone poles lining the road.
[20:32] <DiePotato> *filters
03[20:32] * Vivax is now known as vOv
[20:32] <TesKin|Phone> Alim heads to the front door.
[20:33] <%Scantron> "If that's the case, the fog must be pretty new, otherwise things would smell a lot worse." Larry follows.
01[20:33] <@Nemi> "Cellar door, agent Fakhoury. Out back."
[20:33] <ihp> "…I don't suppose any of you know the Lord's Prayer?"
[20:33] <ihp> He draws his pistol and makes his way for the back.
[20:33] <%Scantron> "Of course I know it."
01[20:33] <@Nemi> "Yeah" says one of the uniformed agents leaning against a squad car. "Me too!" says another.
[20:33] <%TeslaTornado> "I know it."
02[20:33] * ~Roget (suruas.eht|esohw#suruas.eht|esohw) Quit (Client exited)
[20:33] <DiePotato> Arty heads around back. "I can say it in Russian that good enough?"
[20:33] <TesKin|Phone> Alim stops mid step, and turns to head to the back.
[20:33] <%Scantron> "Can't hurt." And Larry is following.
[20:34] <ihp> "…just making sure. If things start to go south… well… let's just say that I really wish I had thought to include holy water in my arsenal.
01[20:35] <@Nemi> The trail to the rear of the house takes the team through a lawn subjected to over two week's neglect during the rainiest time of the year. Tall grasses and dandelions are crushed in their wake. Out back, there's a gas grill in fire-code-violating distance from the house's back door, and butted up against the rear wall is the slightly inclined faces of a storm cellar door.
[20:35] <%Scantron> Larry sneezes.
01[20:36] <@Nemi> Wood, apparently, painted black with metal handles. Even closed, the smell of sulfur is incredible. Enough for Jacob's eyes to water and to be downright unpleasant for everyone else.
[20:36] <ihp> Jacob whines loudly. "Fuck me with a spoon…"
01[20:36] <@Nemi> It's unusually warm here, as well, despite the cool breeze cutting in from the darkened treeline standing sentry around the perimeter of the house.
[20:36] <%Scantron> Larry's composure stays firm, but his nose is twitching. He puts the mask on.
[20:36] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (PERC + SHARP EYES) Any traps of baddies hiding in wait?
[20:36] <DiePotato> Arty crinkles his nose. ~Disgusting.~
[20:36] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (PERC + SHARP EYES) Any traps of baddies hiding in wait?: 8 (4df+8=0, 3+, 4-, 0)
[20:36] <ihp> "…ladies and- " he coughs. "Gents…." Jacob puts on his respirator, "Welcome to hell."
[20:37] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe) I only keep getting better at seeing
[20:37] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe) I only keep getting better at seeing: 7 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[20:37] <DiePotato> He pulls his gasmask on as well and makes sure it's snug
[20:37] <%TeslaTornado> At a proper moment, Ade remembers that he technically doesn't respirate, and therefore doesn't need the mask. Oh well.
01[20:37] <@Nemi> Alim, Ade: There's a couple uniformed men watching the treeline warily, occasionally glancing back toward the team and the cellar door. Hard to see without looking for them. But they're definitely Your Guys.
01[20:38] <@Nemi> Artyom: It's a snug fit. Claustrophobic, hot, and uncomfortable, with limited vision from the spread glass lenses and difficult to breathe through, like huffing air through sand.
[20:38] <%TeslaTornado> Ade gives them a wave!
[20:38] <TesKin|Phone> Alim heads to the cellar door, trying it.
[20:38] <DiePotato> ~About what you would expect from a gasmask~
03[20:39] * ProcyonLotor is now known as ProcyonShopping
01[20:39] <@Nemi> One of them waves back. The cellar door is easily opened, apparently not having been locked or having had the lock removed. Wear on the handles suggest a chained padlock. Inside, about three steps down, all vision is cut off by a violently roiling cloud of black smoke. Reddish veins occasionally flicker through its volume. It smells horrendous, with an undercurrent of rot and something metallic.
01[20:39] <@Nemi> Even through the gas mask. Ugh.
01[20:40] <@Nemi> Wisps of smoke curl and writhe as they creep up the stairs and out into the air.
[20:40] <TesKin|Phone> ~Rot.~ Alim masks up.
[20:41] <DiePotato> Arty leans over to peer in. "How foreboding." His voice be muffled from the mask.
[20:41] <%TeslaTornado> "Pleasant!"
01[20:41] <@Nemi> It's like talking through a heavy filter and several layers of rubberized canvas. Which is exactly what Artyom's doing.
[20:41] <%Scantron> Larry makes an expression that is not visible through his mask. "What?"
[20:41] <ihp> Jacob feels sick.
[20:42] <%Scantron> "Speak louder."
[20:42] <ihp> "Christ on a Eucharist!" He gags, stepping back. "Fuck!"
01[20:42] <@Nemi> The stairs themselves are wood, greyed with age but looking sturdy.
[20:42] <%TeslaTornado> Ade doesn't breathe unless he has to. He stands there looking unamused.
[20:42] <%Scantron> "Much better."
[20:42] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) Alim slips down the steps like a shadow. Better safe than sorry.
[20:42] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) Alim slips down the steps like a shadow. Better safe than sorry.: 9 (4df+8=3+, 4-, 0, 3+)
[20:43] <DiePotato> 4df+9 (SNK + TS) Arty follows.
[20:43] <Glacon> DiePotato: (SNK + TS) Arty follows.: 7 (4df+9=0, 4-, 4-, 0)
01[20:43] <@Nemi> Alim can take two steps down. The next would put him right into the smoke.
[20:43] <ihp> Jacob steps back and gags. "I… I'm sorry, I don't think I can go down."
[20:44] <TesKin|Phone> ~…~ "Agent Okonjo. Do you know anything of this?"
[20:44] <%TeslaTornado> "Mister Wexley, are you honestly going to be deterred by a little rotten-egg smell?" He tuts and descends the first two steps.
[20:44] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Do I know anything about this?
[20:44] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Do I know anything about this?: 5 (4df+6=4-, 0, 3+, 4-)
[20:45] <ihp> "…I am a werewolf. A little rotten-egg smell for me is like taking a bath in ipecac, and all the pores in your body are a mouth."
[20:45] <%Scantron> Larry stands there, arms folded, rocking a bit back and forth. "A werewolf."
[20:45] <ihp> Jacob proceeds down the stairs and sighs, heading down. ~Jesus Christ.~
[20:45] <%TeslaTornado> Another tutting noise. Ade leans against the frame of the cellar doors. "You really are a pathetic lot, aren't you all?"
[20:45] <%TeslaTornado> He makes for the smoke.
[20:45] <%TeslaTornado> "I'll see you on the other side, then."
[20:46] <%Scantron> Now that it's been shown to not be lethal, Larry follows into the smoke.
01[20:46] <@Nemi> Assuming that everyone finally takes the plunge.. the stairs are still underfoot, but vision is nearly completely lost in the thick smoke. It's oppressively hot and heavy. A few more steps, the surface below flattens out. There's a sensation of a strong pulling, of kilnlike heat on all sides, and then…
03[20:46] * vOv is now known as Vivax
01[20:46] <@Nemi> [Pause for desc. ]
[20:46] <TesKin|Phone> Alim follows.
01[20:47] <@Nemi> The team is ejected with some force from a ring of reddish, sparking light hovering about six feet in the air. The 'interior' seems to stretch on forever, though it only seems to be two-dimensional from the outside, and its inner walls seem to be composed of the same black smoke and red veins as that in the cellar entryway.
[20:48] <%TeslaTornado> "Ah!"
[20:48] <%TeslaTornado> "Welcome to Hell, everyone."
[20:49] <%TeslaTornado> "That was a hellgate, by the way, if it wasn't obvious."
01[20:49] <@Nemi> [ I said pause. ]
[20:49] <%TeslaTornado> (my bad)
01[20:50] <@Nemi> The first thing most would notice is how cold it is compared to the furnace heat of the portal. The team seems to have been deposited onto a paved street, cracked and broken, flanked by various stone and brick and wood structures that look much like post-Blitz London, were it not for the fine layer of pale grey ash covering everything. The sky churns red and orange and fast-moving thunderheads creep their way across its infernal expanse.
01[20:53] <@Nemi> It's almost completely silent but for cold wind that echoes and howls through the ruins. The smell is… it smells like ashes and rot, no hint of the earlier brimstone. Far in the distance, though, rises what looks much like Big Ben, were Big Ben coated in ash, partly destroyed, and then buttressed up by red pulsating organic matter. Pulsing veins the size of buses creep across its decayed structure.
03[20:53] * Nanoro (moc.duolccri.egdirbxu.74C9FCA8-CRInys|32918diu#moc.duolccri.egdirbxu.74C9FCA8-CRInys|32918diu) has joined #homeimprovement
01[20:53] <@Nemi> [Unpause ]
01[20:53] <@Nemi> Westminster Palace, it seems, has seen better days.
[20:54] <TesKin|Phone> Alim sets his duffel down and quickly dispenses the parts for his Manlicher.
[20:54] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (PERC) Is there rooftop access?
[20:54] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (PERC) Is there rooftop access?: 5 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 4-, 3+)
[20:54] <DiePotato> "Really let itself go since the last time I was here."
[20:54] <%Scantron> "Hm." Larry turns in a circle, looking around. He's just getting a general picture of things.
[20:54] <ihp> "…huh."
[20:54] <ihp> "So, this is hell."
[20:55] <ihp> "Colder than I would have thought."
[20:55] <TesKin|Phone> "According to various religious texts, this is only one layer of hell."
01[20:55] <@Nemi> Alim: A glance tells you that what few rooftops remain would be treacherous at best and suicidal at worst. Some of the second floors of buildings seem mostly-intact, visible through the blown-out facades, but access seems dubious at best.
[20:55] <%TeslaTornado> "Ah. Welcome to Hell, everyone. That was a hellgate we went through by the way, if that wasn't painfully obvious for you all. And I'm sure there are still at least a few of you whose heads are mired up in the fact that we got here in a miraculous contraption called a car."
[20:55] <%Scantron> "Which ones?"
[20:55] <%TeslaTornado> "And I wouldn't go so far as to refer to Dante's seminal work as a religious text."
[20:56] <ihp> "…I was just about to say."
[20:56] <DiePotato> Arty pulls off his gasmask. Garbage sulfur smell is gone now.
[20:56] <ihp> Jacob takes out a journal and starts sketching it.
[20:56] <TesKin|Phone> Alim sighs internally. He racks the bolt on his rifle and slings it over his shoulder.
[20:56] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks unimpressed with the general state of affairs. He keeps on smokin' his cigarillo.
[20:56] <TesKin|Phone> "It seems there is not a safe way onto the rooftops."
01[20:57] <@Nemi> Per, all.
[20:57] <DiePotato> 4df+4 oh boy
[20:57] <Glacon> DiePotato: oh boy: 5 (4df+4=3+, 3+, 4-, 0)
[20:57] <ihp> "…maybe this is a reflection of what people associate Hell with? A torn-down city that was once great, millions dead, scars all over the earth…"
[20:57] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (PERC)
[20:57] <ihp> 4df+4 +3 if scent
[20:57] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (PERC): 4 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 4-, 0)
[20:57] <Glacon> ihp: +3 if scent: 2 (4df+4=4-, 0, 4-, 0)
[20:57] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe) Better than I was yesterday
[20:57] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe) Better than I was yesterday: 7 (4df+5=0, 0, 3+, 3+)
[20:58] <%Scantron> 4df+3 not my spec
[20:58] <Glacon> Scantron: not my spec: 5 (4df+3=0, 3+, 0, 3+)
01[20:59] <@Nemi> Artyom, Alim, Larry: You both hear an odd sort of sound. Sort of a wet crunching, coming from an alleyway ahead. Ade: You hear it better. Something is chowing down on some meat and the bones they're attached to. Jacob: You don't see or hear anything amiss over the wind, but your nose knows. There's the smell of recent death not far away, paired with something coppery and putrid.
[20:59] <%TeslaTornado> "Well, something's being eaten in that alley."
[21:00] <TesKin|Phone> "Do you wish for me to investigate."
[21:00] <%Scantron> Larry pulls out his pistol and turns to face the direction of the sound. "That would be wonderful."
[21:00] <ihp> "…copper, and rot."
[21:00] <%Scantron> "… my name is Larry, by the way."
[21:00] <ihp> Jacob frowns, taking out his crossbow.
[21:00] <%Scantron> "I should have mentioned that."
[21:01] <DiePotato> 4df+9 (SNK+TS) Let us see if we cannot see what that is without being noticed
[21:01] <Glacon> DiePotato: (SNK+TS) Let us see if we cannot see what that is without being noticed: 12 (4df+9=3+, 3+, 0, 3+)
[21:01] <%TeslaTornado> "Blood and flesh, then."
[21:01] <%TeslaTornado> Ade waits back with the rest of the group.
01[21:03] <@Nemi> [ Pause for Descrip ] Artyom, you're basically a ninja. Moving with each gust of wind to mask footsteps, creeping behind rubble to hide yourself from view… you peer into the alleyway and come to a bizarre sight. The alleyway continues into a broken-open wall leading further on, but ahead of you lies a man in battered English army fatigues reinforced with bits of scrap metal. Or rather..
02[21:05] * GraemeCracker (~ten.elbacwahs.mf.8FEFB825-CRInys|arCemearG#ten.elbacwahs.mf.8FEFB825-CRInys|arCemearG) Quit (Quit: Run and fun)
01[21:06] <@Nemi> What /was/ a man, anyway. A creature is currently busily burying its head in his chest cavity, crunching away at the yummy vittles inside. It looks loosely human, if subjected to horrific mutilations- it's limbs have been lengthened by apparently breaking the bones and flesh and extending them with welded pitted iron armatures, a great deal of flesh has been flensed from its emaciated back, it's too large and gangly in /general/, and its eyes are empty sockets leaking blood and fluid.
[21:06] <DiePotato> ~Another day another abomination~
[21:06] <DiePotato> 4df+4 (PERC) What's past that broken wall further down?
[21:06] <Glacon> DiePotato: (PERC) What's past that broken wall further down?: 3 (4df+4=4-, 4-, 3+, 0)
01[21:06] <@Nemi> It has not noticed you at all, and is presently enjoying a meal. Above the creature, painted on the wall of the alley before being suddenly interrupted in a spurt of spraypaint, is an arrow and the text 'REFUGE HERE. FOLLOW ARRO'
01[21:06] <@Nemi> [ I said pause. ]
01[21:06] <@Nemi> [ Pay attention. ]
[21:06] <DiePotato> (woops)
01[21:08] <@Nemi> Beyond the creature and the hapless soldier, the opening in the rear of the alleyway (convenient timing at least) seems to lead on into a house's interior. Another opening in that far wall continues on and into the dark. [Unpaus.. ]
[21:09] <%Scantron> Larry is waiting for Artyom to report back with info. He hums a tune.
[21:09] <DiePotato> Artyom creeps back to the others. Trying to take that thing alone is a death wish
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01[21:10] <@Nemi> Artyom makes it back with no trouble at all.
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[21:11] <DiePotato> "Abomination of metal and flesh is eating a soldier."
[21:11] <TesKin|Phone> "Bipass and keep moving."
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[21:12] <DiePotato> "There was a sign directing towards a refuge. May be clues as to what happened here."
[21:13] <%Scantron> "Find a way around?"
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[21:13] <ihp> Jacob has his hand over his mouth.
[21:14] <ihp> "…this is London. I don't suppose any of you have a map of the city?"
[21:14] <%Scantron> "Left mine at home."
[21:14] <DiePotato> Artyom shakes his head.
01[21:14] <@Nemi> Westminster Palace and the fleshed-over Big Ben would certainly point to London. From the looks of things, post-Blitz, pre-rebuilding.
01[21:14] <@Nemi> Per, all.
[21:15] <%Scantron> 4df+3
[21:15] <Glacon> Scantron: 5 (4df+3=3+, 0, 0, 3+)
[21:15] <DiePotato> 4df+4
[21:15] <ihp> 4df+4 +3 if scent-based
[21:15] <Glacon> ihp: +3 if scent-based: 5 (4df+4=3+, 0, 4-, 3+)
[21:15] <DiePotato> 4df+4 Glaaaacon
[21:15] <Glacon> DiePotato: Glaaaacon: 2 (4df+4=4-, 3+, 4-, 4-)
[21:16] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (pe)
[21:16] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (pe): 6 (4df+5=3+, 3+, 4-, 0)
01[21:17] <@Nemi> Artyom: Your blood pulsing in your ears and the howling wind, plus your own distraction with the others, keeps you occupied. Ade, Larry and Jacob, however, see the thing Artyom spotted making its way out of the alley. It stops at the opening and… sniffs the air? Whatever it's doing, its inclining its head this way and that, its ribcage expanding and contracting with ragged breaths.
[21:17] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5
[21:17] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: 3 (4df+5=0, 4-, 4-, 0)
01[21:17] <@Nemi> Alim, you see this too.
[21:17] <ihp> "…shit."
[21:17] <DiePotato> "Hm?"
[21:17] <%TeslaTornado> Ade is very glad, at this moment, that he doesn't have a scent.
[21:17] <ihp> Jacob, however, does.
[21:17] <%TeslaTornado> He takes the half-burnt cigarillo and flicks it away, toward the far end of the street, away from team asshole.
[21:18] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) Alim tries to find a safe place to shoot from. Just incase.
[21:18] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) Alim tries to find a safe place to shoot from. Just incase.: 12 (4df+8=3+, 3+, 3+, 3+)
[21:18] <DiePotato> Arty wonders for a moment why Ade is leaving and then turns to see what everyone's looking at.
[21:18] <ihp> "…oh balls."
[21:19] <ihp> "There's… more of these things."
[21:19] <ihp> "All around us."
[21:19] <%Scantron> "Keep moving, then."
[21:19] <%Scantron> Larry keeps moving.
01[21:19] <@Nemi> Alim: You actually find what looks to be an impromptu sniper's perch in the building beside the alleyway. There's a stack of worn, coverless paperback books along with a rusted-out Springfield rifle and a twisted skeleton. There's sandbags and everything.
[21:20] <ihp> 4df+0 Jacob needs stealth training.
[21:20] <Glacon> ihp: Jacob needs stealth training.: 2 (4df+0=3+, 0, 3+, 0)
[21:20] <DiePotato> Artyom follows Larry
[21:20] <TesKin|Phone> Alim likes pre-built sniper hides. He sets up, quickly finding Team Asshole in his scope.
01[21:20] <@Nemi> Arty's moment of hesitation, Jacob's own lack of tremendous stealth ability (though he's not exactly clunking around).. As Arty and Larry proceed up the street, the thing in the alleyway lets out a painful-sounding wheezing scream.
01[21:20] <@Nemi> It's soon answered by another.
01[21:20] <@Nemi> Then another.
01[21:20] <@Nemi> Then a score more.
[21:21] <%TeslaTornado> Ade isn't leaving, he's throwing the cigarillo to distract the asshole that - yep, wasn't distracted at all.
[21:21] <%Scantron> Larry freezes. "… hell."
[21:21] <DiePotato> "Aw fuck."
[21:21] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+3 (HWWIS) Lol fuk u guis im goin 2 da alley
[21:21] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (HWWIS) Lol fuk u guis im goin 2 da alley: 6 (4df+3=0, 3+, 3+, 3+)
01[21:21] <@Nemi> Refuge sounds nice right about now.. Ade, the Nothing here is.. it accepts you readily, because it is /empty/. As if burned out from within.
01[21:21] <@Nemi> You're out in the alleyway, behind the screaming thing, almost immediately.
[21:22] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks quite happy to be out of the way. Fuck those guys, they make good distractions, and one of them is carrying enough munitions to blast this entire block into a smoking crater.
[21:22] <%TeslaTornado> They'll be ~fiiiiine~.
[21:22] <DiePotato> "I sincerely hope you two know how to kill things."
01[21:22] <@Nemi> REFUGE FOLLOW THE ARROW, huh.
[21:23] <%Scantron> "I can shoot a gun."
[21:23] <%TeslaTornado> Ade follows the arrow.
[21:23] <ihp> "…I hope Demon doesn't taste bad."
[21:23] <DiePotato> Arty pulls his Makarov out.
[21:24] <ihp> Jacob puts his thumb in his mouth.
[21:24] <TesKin|Phone> Alim watches.
[21:24] <%Scantron> Larry moves up against a nearby wall.
01[21:24] <@Nemi> Those still in the street, the creature is still howling and screaming. Jacob can detect the scents coming closer with alarming rapidity… and then dozens of the things come pouring out of the ruined buildings on all sides. All with their own unique mutilations, some dismembered and affixed together with ugly metal staples, others with torture implements fused into their broken bodies. They're moving terribly quickly, some on the walls, some on all fours.
01[21:25] <@Nemi> This is the time where I would normally be "Roll a logic check" but it doesn't take a genius to say that 'these are not odds you can fight'.
[21:25] <%Scantron> Larry looks for an exit.
01[21:25] <@Nemi> There's the alleyway with the big ol REFUGE arrow..
01[21:25] <@Nemi> The presently howling-thing /did/ leave.
[21:25] <ihp> Jacob legs it for there.
[21:26] <DiePotato> 4df+5 (AGI) Let's go
[21:26] <Glacon> DiePotato: (AGI) Let's go: 3 (4df+5=4-, 3+, 4-, 4-)
[21:26] <%Scantron> Larry follows!
[21:26] <TesKin|Phone> Alim tries to keep the team in his scope.
01[21:27] <@Nemi> Jacob and Larry can catch up to Ade quickly enough. There's more spray-painted images on walls: Arrows, warnings. 'THEY DONT NEED EYES' 'WATCH THE CEILINGS'. Artyom, you're on their heels but stumble slightly. Not enough to slow your course, but enough to make the howling hordes behind you look uncomfortably close.
01[21:28] <@Nemi> Alim. You are now alone in a sniper's nest as dozens of mutilated abominations surge from buildings onto the street. Abominations that can apparently climb walls without effort.
[21:28] <TesKin|Phone> ~Well then.~
01[21:28] <@Nemi> They're /fast/.
[21:28] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) Alim is quiet tho.
[21:28] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) Alim is quiet tho.: 10 (4df+8=0, 3+, 3+, 0)
01[21:28] <@Nemi> And you don't have an angle on your team as they ran down the alley and into the building across.
[21:28] <%Scantron> Larry glances up at the ceiling, before realizing that he's in an alley and there is no ceiling.
[21:29] <TesKin|Phone> Alim tries to sneak to the alley.
[21:29] <%TeslaTornado> Ade has been casually strolling along, reading the images. He glances his eyes ceilingwards every fifth step or so.
[21:29] <DiePotato> Artyom just tries to keep up with the seeming ordinary guy and werewolf scientist. Being torn apart is not his cup of tea
01[21:30] <@Nemi> Alim: The warning the others saw is prophetic as an eyeless monstrosity hurls itself up to the very floor where you were a moment ago. The alleyway appears temporarily clear, if for a few moments more, but you're a dozen feet off the ground and there's a creature right on your heels.
01[21:31] <@Nemi> Jumping would be an Agi to land neatly and continue running.
[21:31] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (AGI) Yep, one step ahrwd
[21:31] <ihp> "We're missing someone! We have to go back!"
[21:31] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (AGI) Yep, one step ahrwd: 6 (4df+5=0, 3+, 4-, 3+)
[21:31] <TesKin|Phone> Ahead*
[21:31] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (PERC) Ade keeps his eyes out for ceiling crawlers, because they're unpleasant. "No we don't!"
[21:31] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (PERC) Ade keeps his eyes out for ceiling crawlers, because they're unpleasant. "No we don't!": 7 (4df+5=3+, 0, 3+, 0)
[21:31] <%TeslaTornado> "Live stupid, die from stupid!"
[21:32] <%Scantron> "Can't help him now!"
01[21:32] <@Nemi> Alim, your nimble moves save your day. Claws of nails driven through the ruined stump of hands swipe at the air behind you as you land in the alleyway in a roll, channeling the momentum into a burst of speed. There are more of the things swarming from all directions but directly ahead, and that boost is enough to bring you to the rear of the fleeing team. Arrows point this way, then that, providing helpful navigation aids through the labyrinth of alleyways and bombed-out buildings.
01[21:33] <@Nemi> Your shoulder's going to hurt like a bastard later, Alim, but you're not being torn apart by monstrosities. Fair trade.
01[21:33] <@Nemi> All: Agi and then a strength check.
[21:33] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (AGI) Alim pours on the speed, ignoring the pain.
[21:33] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (AGI) Alim pours on the speed, ignoring the pain.: 4 (4df+5=0, 0, 0, 4-)
[21:33] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+3 (AGI) Bye Ade
[21:33] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (AGI) Bye Ade: 4 (4df+3=0, 0, 0, 3+)
[21:33] <DiePotato> 4df+5 (AGI)
[21:33] <Glacon> DiePotato: (AGI): 4 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 4-, 0)
[21:33] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+2 (STR) Bye Ade
[21:33] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (STR) Bye Ade: 5 (4df+2=3+, 0, 3+, 3+)
[21:34] <%Scantron> 4df+3 (AGI)
[21:34] <Glacon> Scantron: (AGI): 4 (4df+3=0, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[21:34] <DiePotato> 4df+4 (STR)
[21:34] <Glacon> DiePotato: (STR): 6 (4df+4=0, 0, 3+, 3+)
[21:34] <%Scantron> 4df+3 (STR)
[21:34] <Glacon> Scantron: (STR): 3 (4df+3=3+, 0, 4-, 0)
[21:34] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+3 (STR)
[21:34] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (STR): 1 (4df+3=4-, 4-, 0, 0)
[21:35] <ihp> 4df+3 agility
[21:35] <Glacon> ihp: agility: 5 (4df+3=3+, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[21:35] <ihp> 4df+2 strength
[21:35] <Glacon> ihp: strength: 2 (4df+2=0, 4-, 0, 3+)
03[21:35] * ProcyonShopping is now known as ProcyonLotor
02[21:36] * GraemeCracker (~ten.elbacwahs.mf.8FEFB825-CRInys|arCemearG#ten.elbacwahs.mf.8FEFB825-CRInys|arCemearG) Quit (Quit: Run and fun)
01[21:37] <@Nemi> Each of you manages to outpace the horde as you dart around blind corners, hurtle through ash-choked shops and bombed-out homes, crossing streets made corridors by fallen rubble. Jacob even manages to burst ahead of the pack. Finally, you arrive at.. Maybe this is Piccadilly Circus? Hard to say. But some of the ruins here stand alone in a broad street, reinforced with scrap metal and built up like a fortress. The barrels of heavy machine guns on the walls and the squints of men and women in ragged clothing is a pleasant welcome, however.
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[21:38] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Oh come on there has to be a note on this pleasant little burb somewhere in Ade's notes
[21:38] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Oh come on there has to be a note on this pleasant little burb somewhere in Ade's notes: 4 (4df+6=0, 0, 4-, 4-)
01[21:38] <@Nemi> A few voices are heard, shouts. "Get those gates open!" "Ammo, we need more ammo up here!" "To the walls!" A tall gateway of smoothed metal creeeaks open outward, just enough to allow human passage. Jacob, Alim, your lungs are burning and your muscles ache, strength ebbing.
01[21:38] <@Nemi> But you all should be able to make it. Just one last burst.. [Final round of Agi checks for all]
[21:38] <%Scantron> 4df+3 THE GAUNTLET
[21:38] <Glacon> Scantron: THE GAUNTLET: 1 (4df+3=4-, 4-, 4-, 3+)
[21:38] <DiePotato> 4df+5 (AGI)
[21:38] <Glacon> DiePotato: (AGI): 4 (4df+5=4-, 4-, 0, 3+)
[21:38] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+3 (AGI) Dead
[21:38] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (AGI) Dead: 7 (4df+3=3+, 3+, 3+, 3+)
[21:38] <ihp> 4df+3
[21:38] <Glacon> ihp: 1 (4df+3=0, 4-, 4-, 0)
[21:38] <ihp> ow.
[21:39] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (AGI) onwards
[21:39] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (AGI) onwards: 4 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 0, 4-)
[21:39] <%TeslaTornado> https://31.media.tumblr.com/7780c8261a2023f6e83e682f57c60508/tumblr_myq58uGcU11qdojd4o2_400.gif
01[21:39] <@Nemi> Ade: Before the war, Piccadilly Circus was a road junction in London's West End. Linking several theatres, this space is notable primarily for the vast open space it composed. Which appears to be an ideal killzone when dealing with crawling monsters.
01[21:39] <@Nemi> 4df+4 ?????
[21:39] <Glacon> Nemi: ?????: 5 (4df+4=4-, 3+, 3+, 0)
[21:40] <ihp> Shit.
01[21:41] <@Nemi> Everyone can make it to the opening, squeezing on through. But for Jacob and Larry the former of whom exhaustion takes from its toll, feet turning leaden. The latter merely trips, costing precious seconds as the swarm of Damned thunders out into the kill field…
[21:42] <ihp> ~Dammit, no…. not like this.~
01[21:43] <@Nemi> … right into a hail of machine gun fire from the .50cals on the walls. Some are torn apart immediately. Others, perforated, keep struggling forward before the sheer impacts bring them down. The rest, seeing that their prey has escaped, flees back into the tangle of urban ruins. The pained screams and howls soon fade into the roar of the constant wind.
01[21:43] <@Nemi> Jacob, Larry. You're alive. Lucky break.
[21:43] <%Scantron> Larry swears as he trips, quickly getting to his feet and keeping up the running. Stunned a bit at the sudden gunfire, he looks behind and sees the swarm getting rekt.
[21:43] <ihp> Jacob winces at the gun fire, before running towards the opening.
01[21:44] <@Nemi> A pale, dangerously skinny soldier waves the two of you in before dragging the door shut. [Pause for desc]
01[21:45] <@Nemi> The group finds themselves within… It's not quite a fortress. Small groups of exhausted English soldiers are about, some around campfires, some going over weapons stores and others at the ramparts. There's a number of even-more-ragged civilians here, many of which are in filthy pre-war clothing, but some of whom are clad in more odd garments; things of leather and bone and membrane of uncertain origin. Though there's many small hovels and storage buildings here, the one that gets the most attention is
01[21:47] <@Nemi> — a large, large building which is only notable beyond its size for the wooden crucifix chained to a sort of impromptu steeple. An older man, fatigues on but clerical collar visible, is already hurrying out to cross the refugee camp to meet the team. "By the Lord! Who are you are you Continentals? Are you here to help at last?" Nervous soldiers watch the team, the sky, and the perimeter in turn.
01[21:47] <@Nemi> [Unpause]
01[21:47] <@Nemi> Everyone here is haggard, seemingly unwashed or without proper meals in months.
[21:48] <%Scantron> Larry is busy catching his breath.
[21:49] <DiePotato> Arty glances around at the destitute living arrangements. ~What has happened here?~
[21:49] <ihp> ~So this is British Hell, then.~
[21:51] <%TeslaTornado> Ade tilts his head. "I'm afraid I don't follow. No, we traveled through a hellgate."
[21:51] <%TeslaTornado> "So… American Expeditionary Force, I suppose." Ade extends a hand to the cleric.
[21:53] <%Scantron> Larry stands up, stretching a bit to compensate for all that running.
01[21:53] <@Nemi> As soon as Ade says the word 'hellgate', he's aware that a dozen rifles have suddenly been leveled at the team, without the theatrical 'ch-chk' one might have expected. The cleric shakes his head to the soldiery, who warily lower their weapons. The priest takes Ade's hand. "I am.. was.. Father Gregory. We.. I apologize. We've had some visitors before, but when we think Hellgate.." He inhales. ".. We tend to think the way those abominations come into London."
[21:54] <%TeslaTornado> Ade nods. "Common parlance among my ilk. Hard habit to break. My sincerest apologies, Father Gregory."
[21:54] <%Scantron> Larry stands up in full. "From our perspective, Father, /this/ is hell."
[21:55] <TesKin|Phone> Alim just waits, rifle in hand.
[21:56] <DiePotato> Arty keeps looking around at. ~Wonder where they get the ammunition~
01[21:57] <@Nemi> "Ha." The priest doesn't sound amused at all. "As if the Jerries bombing us wasn't bad enough. It finally stops, we all thought it was good and well, we were chuffed! Figured the Luftwaffe had enough. Then we stopped hearing from our lads on the Continent. Then we stopped even hearing from the Jerries. Then, hosts of.. I can only assume that they must be the long-damned, but.. London is all but lost. We've some sanctuaries, fortresses and villages, but there's simply /so many/ we've lost all contact outside."
01[21:58] <@Nemi> "Even the metro— used to be our best way to get around, trade goods with other survivors.. we lost that two weeks ago. We've enough supplies for a bit more if we ration it out, but we're starving, exhausted.. I don't know how much longer we can hang on."
[21:58] <%TeslaTornado> Ade tilts his head side to side. "You've still managed to do the extraordinary, Father. Men in these circumstances rarely hold out for as long as you have. I'm impressed - and that is a feat in and of itself."
[21:59] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Weighing the odds for these guys, considering inroads, setting up transactions between the Foundation and Hell London
[21:59] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Weighing the odds for these guys, considering inroads, setting up transactions between the Foundation and Hell London: 3 (4df+6=0, 4-, 4-, 4-)
[21:59] <%TeslaTornado> (fuck you)
01[22:00] <@Nemi> "Ha. We could handle the Luftwaffe, what's the forces of Hell?" Oh, that English spirit. Ade, it's actually fairly likely that they could hold on by themselves if they could regain contact with the outside. This seems to be something of a frontier post.. Foundation intervention may not even be necessary.
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[22:01] <%TeslaTornado> "That's the British way if ever I saw it." Ade leans against his staff, considers. This would definitely be a great opportunity for the Foundation, but they have to get out first.
[22:01] <ihp> Jacob starts sketching the camp.
[22:02] <%Scantron> Larry grins at the joke — it's a hell of a smile. "We… cannot bring back what was lost, unfortunately. /But/," an he pauses briefly before continuing, "We have it on good authority that there is a portal of some sort here that leads to another place, perhaps a library of some sort. We /might/ be able to activate it, but first we need to find it. Do you have any information?"
[22:02] <%TeslaTornado> "Oh fuck the Library."
[22:02] <%TeslaTornado> "This is far more interesting."
[22:03] <ihp> "Language!" Jacob says.
[22:03] <%Scantron> Larry gives Ade an unfriendly glance, but does not respond to Ade's outburst otherwise.
[22:03] <%Scantron> Can Larry roll Persuasion to seem trustworthy/worth helping?
[22:03] <%TeslaTornado> "Yes, it is a language. Sixteenth century Germanic, potential Indo-European roots."
01[22:04] <@Nemi> The priest brightens up. "I— actually, do hold that thought. I was about to ask, you lot look hale and hearty. Normally, as I said, we use the metro for transport caravans, traders, and the like. Normally. We've been cut off— a horde of demons, or what have you, has blockaded the station below. But one of the scouts, fine lad named Chester, claimed he saw some sort of goldish .. door down there. Now, we've not the manpower to try to get down there, given that we're working hard enough just to hold our ground.."
01[22:04] <@Nemi> Larry: sure!
[22:05] <ihp> Jacob looks up at the priest. "…do the demons have… weaknesses?"
[22:05] <%Scantron> 4df+4+5 tagging Actor if applicable, otherwise I'll substitute the Actor (5) roll for a Persuasion roll if possible, if I can't do THAT then it'll just be the 4.
[22:05] <Glacon> Scantron: tagging Actor if applicable, otherwise I'll substitute the Actor (5) roll for a Persuasion roll if possible, if I can't do THAT then it'll just be the 4.: 13 (4df+4+5=3+, 3+, 3+, 3+)
01[22:07] <@Nemi> The priest is about to answer Jacob when a soldier fills in for him. "We've found out that a good load of buckshot or a bullet does the trick neat." Gregory closes his mouth, turns to Larry.. and his eyes brighten.
[22:08] <ihp> Jacob shakes his head and frowns. ~Not what I meant…. but it's good to know they don't need blessed silver to do this or something.~
[22:08] <%Scantron> One of the best performances of Larry's career.
01[22:09] <@Nemi> ".. Yoooou know. I think you might be able to.. Alright. Bit of a long shot. Some of the folks who held on outside of the enclave, they grew up a bit odd— wonky eldritch nonsense. Some of the men would be inclined to brand them demonspawn were they not so .. rather good at locating and killing the things. One moment, would you?" He turns and hustles to the church building proper.
[22:09] <%Scantron> Larry folds his arms and smiles.
[22:10] <%TeslaTornado> Ade rolls his eyes. He's already considering the logistics behind establishing a research site and secure zone for the Foundation inside this infernal facsimile, maintaining contact with the Overworld, setting up supply lines and communications…
[22:10] <%TeslaTornado> This is far more interesting than any incompetent asshole in an overcoat to him.
[22:10] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Let's see 'bout that.
[22:10] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Let's see 'bout that.: 4 (4df+6=0, 0, 4-, 4-)
03[22:10] * BandPenguin is now known as KingPenguin
[22:11] <ihp> If Ade were to say that out loud… Jacob would agree. He was rooting for Bowe before the whole "I turned into Hitler and killed one of my best friends" thing.
01[22:11] <@Nemi> Gregory returns not long afterwards with a young woman, as wasted and pale as the other people here, but with an odd bluish tint to her skin. Her eyes are yellowish, small spines of bone protrude from her brows, and more notably she's not clad in ragged clothing or military gear. Instead, she's some sort of coat of scaly hide, with bone-coloured material and dark leather strapped here and there to keep the ensemble together.
[22:12] <ihp> Jacob stares. ~Note to self: carry a fucking /camera/ from now on.~
01[22:12] <@Nemi> Ade: It seems plausible. The small gate that they used to enter this realm wouldn't be enough for vehicle traffic, but perhaps it could be widened and a safe corridor established…
[22:12] <ihp> He tries to take notes on her.
[22:12] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) He also plays Spot The Abnormal Entity with Bonebrows over there.
[22:12] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) He also plays Spot The Abnormal Entity with Bonebrows over there.: 8 (4df+6=3+, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[22:12] <TesKin|Phone> Alim just waits. Sometimes keeping your mouth shut is a smart idea.
[22:13] <DiePotato> Artyom does much the same
[22:13] <DiePotato> Words were never a strong suit of his
01[22:13] <@Nemi> "This is Charlotte Ashland," Gregory explains. "She was a child during the blitz, and grew up outside our walls. I'm not sure of some sort of ambient nonsense got into her or what, but she's got some interesting talents what might help you reach your door." Charlotte looks vaguely irritable and rather sleepless.
01[22:14] <@Nemi> Ade: This is clearly someone who grew up with some sort of infernal influence, likely the essence of Hell flowing into her during adolescence. Any abilities they have can be terribly varied.
[22:14] <%TeslaTornado> "Ah, yes. Children who grow up without certain countermeasures in environs such as this one develop any of a mixed bag of strange qualities."
01[22:15] <@Nemi> Charlotte starts up. She sounds … Cockney. Egh. An incredibly rare accent and she has to have it. "Roight. So. Aur good padre 'ere sez you wanna get down into the tunnels. Me, I like having food and what, so I guess I'm gonna hafta help you kill a buncha demons an' open the way."
[22:15] <%Scantron> ~If only I weren't on a mission… and this wasn't a post-apocalyptic wasteland, I suppose.~
01[22:15] <@Nemi> Gregory continues, "I believe.. If you can break this blockade— we had no luck ourselves, and the men are just in no shape to do anything but hold the line.. We may be able to get back into contact with other stations and.. Well, stop slowly being bled out."
[22:16] <%TeslaTornado> "If we must." Ade shrugs. "Rather just start food shipments in here and establish a secure perimeter as soon as possible, but if we have to go on this fool's errand to rescue our Fool in Shining Trenchcoat."
[22:16] <%TeslaTornado> He looks to Charlotte. "Advise us, then."
01[22:17] <@Nemi> "Be best if'n ya follow me. They're stupid, bloind, an' ugly, but real mean if you get them all roiled up. Get inna good position, open up, drop 'em all quick as ya kin, might make it nice and neat. 'ere. We've got our way to the metro over here." She immediately turns and stalks on through the tangle of hovels.
[22:18] <%Scantron> Larry nods, following behind her.
[22:18] <%TeslaTornado> Ade follows. "I like this girl."
[22:18] <ihp> ~Accent's a bit annoying, though.~
[22:18] <DiePotato> Arty follows as well.
[22:19] <ihp> Jacob follows behind.
01[22:19] <@Nemi> "Now, I been out there on me lonesome for years now. Demons taste like shite but they keep ya walking. Don't try an' eat a Damned— 's what we call the walkin' dead things. Those'll rot ya right out from the inside. I could go allll and all in on what ya need to do to stay scrapin' by, but here, we're just gonna kill some bleedin' demons, like I like it."
[22:19] <%Scantron> "Excellent."
[22:19] <TesKin|Phone> Alim follows after, slinging his rifle back over his shoulder.
[22:20] <%TeslaTornado> "As it's meant to be."
01[22:20] <@Nemi> Charlotte leads them on down a flight of stairs into what looks very much to be a fortified subway station. Walls stretch to the roof at the edge of the platforms. Sandbags and machine guns are set up to watch the gates leading directly to the subway tunnels. There's ragged soldiers, jumpy and weak, all over. "Roight. Through the gate 'ere.. We're gonna use some of the ol' maintenance tunnels. If'n you lot have torches, /don't use 'em/. Cunts like what smell out light."
[22:21] <ihp> "…smell.. light."
[22:21] <ihp> "Okay then."
01[22:21] <@Nemi> She wrenches the metallized gate open, a soldier moving in to hold it open (and presumably slam it shut once past). "Fuckin' demons, love. Don't gotta make sense."
[22:21] <%TeslaTornado> "They're photosensitive, agent Wexley, you can't blame her for lacking an education in the wake of total societal collapse."
01[22:21] <@Nemi> And then she hops down onto the tracks below. No need to worry about being shocked here, apparently.
[22:22] <%TeslaTornado> Ade hops like a bunny.
[22:22] <%Scantron> Larry is quick to follow!
[22:22] <DiePotato> Artyom follows onto the tracks as well
[22:22] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (PERC) Being the first man through, he makes a quick scan to take into account that these things can crawl on ceilings.
[22:22] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (PERC) Being the first man through, he makes a quick scan to take into account that these things can crawl on ceilings.: 3 (4df+5=4-, 3+, 4-, 4-)
[22:22] <TesKin|Phone> Alim follows, drawing his handgun.
[22:23] <ihp> 4df+4+3 This counts for both scent /and/ sight, because of low-light environments.
[22:23] <Glacon> ihp: This counts for both scent /and/ sight, because of low-light environments.: 5 (4df+4+3=4-, 4-, 0, 0)
01[22:23] <@Nemi> Those paying attention can easily pick out what look to be extension cords and the like lining the inner sides of the tracks. It seems mercifully free of Damned, if for the moment, though some suspicious stains and burn marks signify that things /were/ here. And presumably eaten by the survivors. Charlotte turns and follows the tracks down a ways. She hisses behind herself, "Now's point where you shut yer gobs and stick to me.
01[22:24] <@Nemi> Jacob: You can see much more clearly than anyone else except for your guide, it seems. There's bits of broken glass, like lights that were broken some time ago. And bits of unfamiliar fluid with a pungent metallic scent.
[22:24] <ihp> Copper?
01[22:25] <@Nemi> It seems that the forces of Hell haven't been idle in their attempts to more proactively get to the tasty squishy mortals. Copper, correct.
[22:25] <%Scantron> Larry's lips are sealed. He draws his gun.
[22:25] <ihp> "Hmmm."
[22:25] <ihp> Jacob draws his crossbow.
[22:26] <%TeslaTornado> Ade holds tighter to his briefcase.
01[22:26] <@Nemi> Charlotte continues on a few more paces before swinging herself off the tracks and onto the narrow walkway abutting the tracks. There's a metal door there, not hard to spot but for the pervasive darkness. And it /is/ dark. Not as dark as one might expect- there's a soft bluish ambience to everything that is just enough to pick out silhouettes.
[22:26] <%TeslaTornado> And takes a moment to carry his staff so it's not rattling on the ground.
[22:26] <DiePotato> Arty draws his Mak and keeps a hand on his Tok at his hip
[22:26] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) Alim slips along, trying to stay quiet, and hidden.
[22:26] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) Alim slips along, trying to stay quiet, and hidden.: 8 (4df+8=0, 4-, 3+, 0)
[22:26] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+4 (St) Ade is quiet and sneaky as well.
[22:26] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (St) Ade is quiet and sneaky as well.: 1 (4df+4=4-, 0, 4-, 4-)
01[22:27] <@Nemi> She opens the metal door. Another hiss. "Stay quiet, stick to me, an' stop shakin' your man-bag."
03[22:27] * Roget is now known as Roget|Hockey
[22:27] <TesKin|Phone> Alim does just that.
01[22:27] <@Nemi> And so Charlotte disappears into the pitch-black maintenance corridor. The scuffle of her footsteps tells you where she is. At least she's not going too fast.
[22:28] <%TeslaTornado> Ade takes a moment to more properly secure the contents of his bag, wrapping each separate item in handkerchiefs before continuing along.
01[22:28] <@Nemi> Quick per checks from everyone.
[22:28] <%Scantron> Larry doesn't bother trying to sneak — it's not like he would get much quieter. He follows after Charlotte.
[22:28] <%Scantron> 4df+3
[22:28] <Glacon> Scantron: 4 (4df+3=0, 0, 3+, 0)
[22:28] <DiePotato> 4df+4
[22:28] <DiePotato> 4df+4 cmon glac
[22:28] <Glacon> DiePotato: cmon glac: 4 (4df+4=3+, 4-, 0, 0)
[22:29] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 eyes and ears
[22:29] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: eyes and ears: 4 (4df+5=0, 0, 0, 4-)
[22:30] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe) I am the worst
[22:30] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe) I am the worst: 5 (4df+5=0, 3+, 0, 4-)
01[22:31] <@Nemi> Those who rolled a 4 or above— which appears to be literally everyone except Jacob who's busy with Life being Strange— can make out faint glints from some sort of viscous, burned on fluid on the walls. It's as if it's turned into glass, whatever it was before.
[22:31] <ihp> Wait no
[22:31] <ihp> I missed the roll call
01[22:31] <@Nemi> [ Get to it!
[22:31] <ihp> 4df+4+3
[22:31] <Glacon> ihp: 7 (4df+4+3=4-, 0, 0, 3+)
01[22:32] <@Nemi> Jacob sees this. He /also/ smells an interesting scent from the glassy objects. Smells … not coppery. Iron.
[22:32] <ihp> "…that's human blood. And…. glass?"
[22:33] <ihp> ~Was this place nuked?~
[22:33] <%Scantron> Larry looks around at the glints. They're pretty! Maybe!
01[22:34] <@Nemi> "'s what imps do. I call 'em imps, anyway. Smallest kinda demon what I've seen. Big as a man an' built like an ox. See by blastin' out great sodding balls o' fire since they got no eyes. You'd see 'em if any were in 'ere."
[22:34] <DiePotato> Arty steps lightly and keeps his pistol pointed up to avoid shooting someone on accident. He keeps his eyes down and his ear cocked.
01[22:35] <@Nemi> The team's guide leads them down a labyrinth of claustrophobic tunnels, through pitch-black storerooms and utility closets, moving as if the dark isn't even an inconvenience. Finally, she stops by a grate. A persistent orange light shines through here. It's man-sized, enough that one could burst out if they so chose. Beyond.. It doesn't take a per roll to see this. [Pause for desc]
01[22:37] <@Nemi> Though the slots in the grate obstruct vision somewhat, it's easy to see what lies beyond, if by sheer virtue of the light being cast. A traincar lies on its side in this larger chamber, presumably a track transfer station, on fire. Several hand carts and other objects lie ablaze on the tracks themselves. The tunnel presumably leading to the Circus station is not physically blocked but for another burning traincar— something presumably easily removed if there weren't the demons present.
01[22:38] <@Nemi> Speaking of said demons— they look loosely like men, were men hulking, seven-foot-tall brutes looking as is assembled from liquid magma. Their skin is ashen grey and numerous clefts, especially at the mouth and centre-chest, glows intensely within from infernal flame. There's a half-dozen of the things, cavorting about the hand-cart. Scorch marks, flames, and ashes are all about, as are charred skeletons and sacks of what must have once been supplies.
[22:39] <ihp> ~I don't suppose anyone brought water….~
01[22:39] <@Nemi> Charlotte looks back at the group, backlit by the orange light. She nods. "Bullets work. You'll wanna kill 'em all before they react, elsewise you're /dead/. Stupid and slow at least. An' watch out for any shadows."
[22:40] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe) Ade looks for FIRE SUPPRESSION DEVICES. Like a HOSE. Or FIRE EXTINGUISHER. Because he didn't bring a GUN.
[22:40] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe) Ade looks for FIRE SUPPRESSION DEVICES. Like a HOSE. Or FIRE EXTINGUISHER. Because he didn't bring a GUN.: 7 (4df+5=4-, 3+, 3+, 3+)
01[22:40] <@Nemi> She creeps back down the corridor. "I've got me own prey here. Meet you back at the station." And is like that, gone.
01[22:41] <@Nemi> Ade: There's signs that suppression devices were once present, mostly sprinklers and fire extinguishers to handle the danger of fires during track switches and refueling. Your canny gaze, however, notes that they've suffered at least a decade of disuse and are likely nonfunctional. Moreover, however…
01[22:41] <@Nemi> Charlotte had a cryptic warning about shadows. You can make out what looks a lot like blast shadows burned into the far wall. Hm.
01[22:41] <@Nemi> [ Unpause ]
[22:42] <ihp> 4df+4+4 (Academics+ EWU(Formerly improvise)) Jacob tries to think of a way to extinguish the damn things with what he has on hand.
[22:42] <Glacon> ihp: (Academics+ EWU(Formerly improvise)) Jacob tries to think of a way to extinguish the damn things with what he has on hand.: 7 (4df+4+4=0, 4-, 0, 0)
[22:42] <DiePotato> ~Bullets are supposed to stop these things?~
[22:43] <%TeslaTornado> Ade points out the blast shadows to the rest of the team.
01[22:43] <@Nemi> Jacob: Hellfire likely responds oddly to your usual methods of extinguishment. As they are something of a representation of the owner's burning soul essence, it's likely that anything that damages a body would cause equal damage to soulfire.
[22:43] <ihp> Except other forms of fire.
01[22:43] <@Nemi> One would assume.
[22:43] <ihp> Unless it's some kind of a backburn thing like they do with forest fires…
[22:44] <ihp> "Eh, skip it." Jacob hands Ade his crossbow. "…what do you think that is?"
[22:44] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks dumbfoundedly at the crossbow. "Bad, whatever they are."
[22:44] <%TeslaTornado> "And I can't shoot. What do you expect me to do with this other than kill everyone in this room?"
[22:44] <%Scantron> 4df+3+4 engineering tagging saboteur: Larry tries to discern whether he could bring things crashing down on those demons, one way or another.
[22:44] <Glacon> Scantron: engineering tagging saboteur: Larry tries to discern whether he could bring things crashing down on those demons, one way or another.: 7 (4df+3+4=4-, 0, 3+, 0)
[22:46] <TesKin|Phone> Alim just waits. His skillset isn't exactally helpful. Fighting these things upclose is a death wish.
01[22:46] <@Nemi> Larry: Clever eye. The roof is pretty solidly constructed, being the sort of vault tunnel that can survive many tons of road and building atop it, but there's a precarious-looking metal catwalk stretching across the ceiling and anchored by fragile-looking metal cables eaten-away by corrosion and years of neglect.
[22:46] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) What he does do is look for a nice sniper hide to chill in and cover the team.
[22:46] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) What he does do is look for a nice sniper hide to chill in and cover the team.: 6 (4df+8=4-, 3+, 4-, 4-)
01[22:47] <@Nemi> Alim: Staying in here would probably work nicely, actually. The space is too tight for the hulking creatures to easily squeeze in, and hopefully they'll be messed up enough by the alpha strike that you won't get mobbed.
[22:48] <%Scantron> Larry points at the catwalk. "I could probably drop that on them."
[22:48] <ihp> "…how many will that take out?"
[22:48] <%Scantron> "No idea."
[22:48] <%TeslaTornado> "And there's the possibility of the noise bringing more of them."
[22:48] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe) Ade looks for the telltale glint of soulfire further down both ends of the tunnel.
[22:48] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe) Ade looks for the telltale glint of soulfire further down both ends of the tunnel.: 6 (4df+5=0, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[22:49] <TesKin|Phone> Alim tucks away in a corner. "Choke point. I can cover from here."
01[22:49] <@Nemi> Ade: No immediate sign— faint flickers from weeeell far off, but presumably that's what Charlotte's aiming to deal with.
[22:50] <%Scantron> Larry looks to Charlotte. "What do you think?"
01[22:50] <@Nemi> Charlotte's long gone, pursuing her own quarry, it seems.
[22:50] <%Scantron> "… oh."
[22:51] <%Scantron> Larry looks down at the demons and tries to judge how many he could actually plausible take out in one shot with the catwalk.
01[22:52] <@Nemi> Two or three would be immediately under it. That'd certainly even odds.
01[22:52] <@Nemi> Ade: The distant flicker very abruptly cuts out.
[22:53] <%Scantron> "… actually, thinking on it, I could get about two or three. Can you all handle the rest?"
[22:53] <ihp> "…I could probably take out a couple more."
[22:54] <TesKin|Phone> Alim just waits. He looks quite sinister behind that rifle.
01[22:54] <@Nemi> Initiation is up to you. The 'imps' are just having a grand ol' time adding more flames to the burning carriage and car.
[22:54] <DiePotato> Arty's just crouched waiting.
[22:55] <ihp> "…you take out the first few, the rest of us aim for the center of mass."
[22:55] <TesKin|Phone> Can Alim hit the catwalk from his position?
[22:56] <ihp> "Don't let them touch you, but I think that goes without saying."
01[22:56] <@Nemi> It'd be a challenging angle, but he could. A good impact should be enough to knock it loose.
[22:56] <TesKin|Phone> How far?
01[22:57] <@Nemi> Alim, you're an expert sniper with a rifle.
[22:57] <TesKin|Phone> (I need to know for the spec)
01[22:57] <@Nemi> Probably seventy, seventy-five feet counting diagonal.
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03[22:57] * ChanServ sets mode: +h ScanAFK
[22:58] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (RANGED + TOTT) One shot, one kill, no luck, all skill. Alim aims for the catwalk.
[22:58] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (RANGED + TOTT) One shot, one kill, no luck, all skill. Alim aims for the catwalk.: 10 (4df+8=3+, 0, 0, 3+)
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03[22:59] * ChanServ sets mode: +h Scantron
01[23:00] <@Nemi> And Alim starts things off with a bang. The shot passes through the gap in the grating the group's crouching behind, sailing upward and panging off the primary mass of the catwalk. The force imparted causes the cables suspending the walkway at the far side to fail dramatically, and the stressed and aged metal can't take it. It crashes down with a tremendous ruckus…
[23:00] <%TeslaTornado> Ade prepares with his staff. Not sure how much good six feet of solid oak will do against a flaming monstrosity, but it's better than your fist.
01[23:01] <@Nemi> .. crushing three of the six imps right off. They let out various kiln-like roars and screams as they scrabble and scratch and try to extricate themselves, while the remaining three slowly turn toward the source of the noise. None have eyes.
[23:01] <TesKin|Phone> Alim cycles the bolt, instantly putting his crosshare on the farthest imp.
[23:01] <DiePotato> Arty holsters his pistol and pulls his rifle off his back. Go big or go home.
[23:02] <TesKin|Phone> Alim hisses. "Stay quiet."
[23:02] <%TeslaTornado> Ade stands there looking vaguely threatening.
[23:02] <DiePotato> Arty does so. Doesn't even flip the safety off
[23:02] <%Scantron> Larry already has his pistol out, aimed at one of the imps. He turned the safety off long ago.
[23:03] <ihp> Jacob has his pistol held in both hands.
[23:03] <TesKin|Phone> Can Alim shoot again without drawing attention to himself?
01[23:03] <@Nemi> They may be slow to react, and apparently fairly stupid, but not so much as to ignore the source of the noise. Two of the standing imps drive their hands into the glowing cleft within their upper torsos, withdrawing masses of burning .. something. Plasma. Looks like this is Psi-7's opportunity to go before fiery death starts raining.
02[23:03] * %ScanAFK (smaeb.leets.tlem.tn|c.leuftej#smaeb.leets.tlem.tn|c.leuftej) Quit (Operation timed out)
[23:04] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (RANGED + TOTT) Alim tries to drop the imp that is the furthest away.
[23:04] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (RANGED + TOTT) Alim tries to drop the imp that is the furthest away.: 9 (4df+8=0, 4-, 3+, 3+)
[23:05] <%Scantron> 4df+3 If only Larry could his act his way out of this! Ranged attack.
[23:05] <Glacon> Scantron: If only Larry could his act his way out of this! Ranged attack.: 1 (4df+3=4-, 0, 4-, 0)
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[23:05] <DiePotato> 4df+6 (RNG+OSOSOL) Safety off. Fire away
[23:05] <Glacon> DiePotato: (RNG+OSOSOL) Safety off. Fire away: 5 (4df+6=0, 4-, 4-, 3+)
[23:05] <ihp> 4df+4 This is gonna suck.
[23:05] <Glacon> ihp: This is gonna suck.: 4 (4df+4=4-, 3+, 3+, 4-)
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[23:07] <%TeslaTornado> Ade moves out of the range of burning death.
[23:07] <%TeslaTornado> No gun means no joining in the fusilade.
01[23:08] <@Nemi> Alim's shot rings true as the rearmost imp's head pops in a spray of magmatic orange fluid. The spatter hardens into a glossy black material almost immediately as the body, the glow ebbing within, hits the tile floor. Artyom and Jacob both open fire— Artyom's shots catch one of the remaining imps right in the chest, making it stagger and hurl its fire orb wide. The orb splashes against the wall in a spray of liquid fire.
02[23:09] * Nanoro (moc.duolccri.egdirbxu.74C9FCA8-CRInys|32918diu#moc.duolccri.egdirbxu.74C9FCA8-CRInys|32918diu) Quit (Quit: Connection closed for inactivity)
01[23:09] <@Nemi> Jacob's target, however, heats the bolt right in the upper torso. It stumbles, apparently more of surprise than anything else, but this one seems better coordinated than its fellows, especially as Larry's shot pangs off a more solid portion of its outer body. It regains composure and hurls its orb toward the team! Agi, those in front— namely, Arty and Jacob!
[23:10] <DiePotato> 4df+5 (AGI) Just gonna nope out of here
[23:10] <Glacon> DiePotato: (AGI) Just gonna nope out of here: 6 (4df+5=3+, 3+, 0, 4-)
[23:10] <ihp> 4df+3 fuuuuck
[23:10] <Glacon> ihp: fuuuuck: 5 (4df+3=4-, 3+, 3+, 3+)
01[23:12] <@Nemi> Amazingly, both Arty and Jacob manage to scrabble back into the tunnel, leaving the orb to burst at their feet. Small tongues of fire spatter onto Jacob's trouser leg, causing no damage but making the fabric ignite rather.. rapidly. Artyom is only spattered with droplets which hurt but burn out rapidly.
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01[23:12] <@Nemi> The remaining standing imp stomps heavily on its way toward the tunnel, reaching into its central cleft again for another orb…
[23:12] <ihp> Jacob pats out his leg. "Shit shit shit shit!"
[23:12] <TesKin|Phone> Alim just waits, cocking his rifle to a 45 degree angle and aiming down the side of the barrell.
[23:13] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+6 (RANGED + TOTT) And he fires again.
[23:13] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (RANGED + TOTT) And he fires again.: 7 (4df+6=0, 3+, 0, 0)
[23:13] <DiePotato> Once Arty realizes the burning pain is quickly fading he beings his rifle up.
[23:13] <DiePotato> *brings
[23:13] <ihp> Jacob actually gets on the ground and rolls.
01[23:13] <@Nemi> If Jacob were more jealous of others' physiques, they might say he was doing a
01[23:13] <@Nemi> jelly roll
[23:14] <%TeslaTornado> :|
[23:14] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks at the ceiling for no apparent reason.
01[23:14] <@Nemi> He does manage to extinguish the blaze without suffering injury. Which is convenient, as the imp doesn't get to fire again— already wounded, Alim's next round punches through its upper torso. Leaking liquid flame at a dangerous rate, it steps backwards once, roars, and topples over.
01[23:15] <@Nemi> Except the dying imps trapped under the jagged remains of the catwalk, all hostiles seem to be neutralized.
[23:15] <TesKin|Phone> Alim cycles the bolt quickly and quietly. ~This team is made up of incompentence.~
[23:15] <%Scantron> Larry is about to shoot at the last one as he runs away, but it seems that that's been taken care of.
[23:15] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks at Alim and arches his eyebrows.
[23:16] <%TeslaTornado> He nods approvingly at the shooting and goes to step over the smoldering Jacob.
01[23:16] <@Nemi> With the imps gone, the room itself seems relatively safe but for those odd shadows.
[23:16] <DiePotato> Arty picks himself back up and puts his rifle back on his back.
[23:16] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) Now about those blast shadows.
[23:16] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) Now about those blast shadows.: 6 (4df+6=0, 0, 4-, 3+)
[23:17] <TesKin|Phone> Alim quickly reloads, picking up his spent brass.
[23:17] <ihp> Jacob frowns, looking up. "…well, that was embarrassing." He stands and dusts himself off. "Now we just… have to move that."
01[23:17] <@Nemi> Ade would remember this from another world. Sometimes, if many people die in great turmoil, their echoes can leave a physical imprint. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes not, always enlightening. The light of the infernal, hellfire what sears the soul as much as the body, especially.
[23:17] <%Scantron> "It could have been worse." Larry reloads.
[23:18] <TesKin|Phone> "You are all inneffective at combat and should refrain from further deployments."
01[23:18] <@Nemi> Moving an overturned subway car? Noooo problem when Wolf Agent is on the case.
[23:18] <TesKin|Phone> Alim stands, brushing the dirt off himself.
[23:18] <%TeslaTornado> "The ghosts of the tunnels."
[23:19] <%Scantron> Larry snipes at Alim: "Well, you're ineffective at getting us a guide and finding a catwalk to drop on the hostiles, how about that."
[23:19] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks on the shadows with some measure of disdain. "Souls seared into the walls by traumatic death."
[23:19] <%Scantron> He sighs. "That wasn't professional, I apologize."
[23:19] <%TeslaTornado> "I'd suggest not touching them, but I can't stop any of you, so if you want to die tonight I'd encourage you to just get it over with."
01[23:19] <@Nemi> Something rattles the room. Per, all.
[23:19] <%Scantron> 4df+3
[23:19] <Glacon> Scantron: 0 (4df+3=4-, 0, 4-, 4-)
[23:19] <DiePotato> 4df+4 oh boy
[23:19] <Glacon> DiePotato: oh boy: 2 (4df+4=4-, 0, 4-, 0)
[23:19] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Pe)
[23:19] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe): 8 (4df+6=0, 3+, 0, 3+)
[23:20] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (Perc + Sharp Eyes) Someone hidin' out there?
[23:20] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (Perc + Sharp Eyes) Someone hidin' out there?: 6 (4df+8=4-, 4-, 0, 0)
[23:20] <ihp> 4df+7
[23:20] <Glacon> ihp: 7 (4df+7=4-, 0, 3+, 0)
01[23:21] <@Nemi> Ade feels it before the others see it. Something just forced its way into reality not far away. Something aberrant and dreadfully dangerous, just down the open tunnel. Alim, keen-eyed, can spot the glow as it approaches. Jacob can smell the brimstone and blood.
[23:21] <ihp> ~Oh shit.~
[23:21] <%TeslaTornado> "Everyone run towards the demon that just spawned into existence before us to distract it, please."
[23:21] <%TeslaTornado> "I'll be leaving now."
[23:21] <TesKin|Phone> "Glow. Moving towards us."
[23:21] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+3 (HWWIS) Ha ha ha bye
[23:21] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (HWWIS) Ha ha ha bye: 3 (4df+3=4-, 3+, 3+, 4-)
[23:22] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) Lol fuk u outie.
[23:22] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) Lol fuk u outie.: 6 (4df+8=4-, 4-, 0, 0)
[23:22] <DiePotato> Arty sighs. ~Never easy~
[23:22] <%Scantron> Larry tails it in the direction away from the aberrant and dreadfully dangerous thing.
[23:22] <%Scantron> Nopenopenopenopenope.
[23:22] <DiePotato> Artyom then quickly cheeses it
[23:23] <ihp> 4df+0 If Jacob makes it out alive, he is getting sneak training for days.
[23:23] <Glacon> ihp: If Jacob makes it out alive, he is getting sneak training for days.: 0 (4df+0=3+, 4-, 3+, 4-)
[23:23] <DiePotato> 4df+9 (SNK+TS) Let us cheese it into a shadow/dark corner/hidey hole though
[23:23] <Glacon> DiePotato: (SNK+TS) Let us cheese it into a shadow/dark corner/hidey hole though: 9 (4df+9=4-, 3+, 3+, 4-)
01[23:23] <@Nemi> A loosely humanoid thing surges into the chamber from the open tunnel. Its massive body seems held together only by the pitted black iron armour bolted to its form. It trails liquid fire with each step of its backwards-bent legs, and its eyeless face looks more mouth than head. YOU CANNOT FLEE. The words resonate through each team members' skull. I SMELL YOUR STINK.
01[23:24] <@Nemi> Mdef, all.
[23:24] <%Scantron> 4df+6 Something larry's good at!
[23:24] <Glacon> Scantron: Something larry's good at!: 6 (4df+6=3+, 0, 4-, 0)
[23:24] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (MD) +3 if Brought Low is applicable
[23:24] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (MD) +3 if Brought Low is applicable: 5 (4df+6=4-, 4-, 3+, 0)
[23:24] <DiePotato> 4df+3 oh it's one of these rides
[23:24] <Glacon> DiePotato: oh it's one of these rides: 1 (4df+3=3+, 4-, 4-, 4-)
[23:24] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+3 Anndd it's time for Alim to cry in a coner.
[23:24] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: Anndd it's time for Alim to cry in a coner.: 4 (4df+3=4-, 0, 3+, 3+)
[23:26] <ihp> 4df+4
[23:26] <Glacon> ihp: 2 (4df+4=0, 4-, 4-, 0)
[23:26] <ihp> Ow.
01[23:27] <@Nemi> Jacob barely was able to clump into the service tunnel before something hot feel as if it's gripped him from within and drags him bodily across the floor toward the massive aberration. It burns within and without, searing at his sense of self even as it roughly drags him across ruble and stone. (-1 phealth, -1 mhealth). Artyom fares little better— while he manages to flee further into the service tunnel, it makes his experience of being pulled bodily back through the opening all the more painful. (-1.5 pheath, -1.5 mhealth).
01[23:28] <@Nemi> Larry and Ade, while you are dragged— Ade, disturbingly, you're pulled by unseen burning hands from the Nothing itself and deposited at the monster's feet— back into its presence, you remain undamaged but for minor scrapes and bruises from being roughly hauled by invisible hands.
[23:29] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks up at the thing, scowling. "You're playing in my domain."
[23:29] <%Scantron> Larry struggles to get out of its grip! ~Fuck off, this is MY head.~
01[23:29] <@Nemi> Alim.. You're actually not too bad off. Standing your ground.. This thing seems to feed on fear, or the need to escape, or something like that. A hot fevered feeling runs through you, but you're left more-or-less intact.
[23:29] <ihp> Jacob screams in pain, the scream stopping in his throat as the feels the burn.
[23:29] <DiePotato> Arty is currently screaming internally. And externally
[23:30] <%TeslaTornado> "I've seen far worse than you, known far worse than you."
[23:30] <TesKin|Phone> Did he get dragged?
[23:30] <%TeslaTornado> "I've trodden unspoken distances for uncounted ages."
[23:30] <%TeslaTornado> "I do not know petty things like fear, or hesitation."
01[23:30] <@Nemi> The greater demon lowers its gaze. It's over twelve, thirteen feet tall. THIS IS MINE, NOW. A BILLION, BILLION MORE AWAIT MY ORDERS. YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY GATE.
[23:30] <%TeslaTornado> "You'd be better off just letting me go, honestly."
01[23:31] <@Nemi> Alim: You're not, actually!
[23:31] <%TeslaTornado> "I'll have whatever I damn well please, darling."
[23:31] <TesKin|Phone> "Oorr, you could just let us go. Or keep the actor. He probably tastes the best."
[23:31] <ihp> 4df+4 (Academics) Jacob tries to think of anything that could be done against this thing against the fact that /MOTHER FUCK THIS HURTS/
[23:31] <Glacon> ihp: (Academics) Jacob tries to think of anything that could be done against this thing against the fact that /MOTHER FUCK THIS HURTS/: 4 (4df+4=0, 3+, 4-, 0)
[23:32] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+8 (SNK + TOTT) The dark is my friend. My savior. My sweey release. Alim just hides and waits.
[23:32] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (SNK + TOTT) The dark is my friend. My savior. My sweey release. Alim just hides and waits.: 8 (4df+8=3+, 4-, 4-, 3+)
[23:32] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+6 (Ac) I'm smarter than you and that means I can beat you
[23:32] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Ac) I'm smarter than you and that means I can beat you: 9 (4df+6=3+, 0, 3+, 3+)
[23:32] <TesKin|Phone> sweet*
[23:32] <DiePotato> Arty just tries to recompose himself. The screaming is making that a bit hard though
01[23:32] <@Nemi> YOU ARE FOREIGN. YOU WILL ENTERTAIN ME FOR A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS, AND WHEN I TIRE OF YOU, YOU WILL BE FODDER FOR THE IMPS. The thing sweeps its hand to one side, seemingly tearing open a hole in the air itself, to a realm of unbelievable cold and searing flame all at once.
[23:33] <%Scantron> 4df+3 Larry takes his gun, if he can, and shoots at the damn thing. Because why not, and it's not like he's genre-savvy.
[23:33] <Glacon> Scantron: Larry takes his gun, if he can, and shoots at the damn thing. Because why not, and it's not like he's genre-savvy.: 2 (4df+3=0, 0, 0, 4-)
[23:34] <TesKin|Phone> ~You complete moron.~
[23:34] <%TeslaTornado> "You could try, of course."
[23:34] <%TeslaTornado> "I find that I'm quite polite company once you get used to me."
01[23:35] <@Nemi> Alim: It.. seems not to have noticed you, amazingly enough. Perhaps you're mundane enough, or simply didn't register. Weird. Ade: This.. This is one of the Big Guys. Dante's term 'malebranche' doesn't capture the enormity of this thing, though some form of infernal lieutenant would likely catch its meaning. It's probably relying on your status as out-of-phase beings in order to manipulate you. Bother.
[23:35] <%TeslaTornado> "And I'm destined to outlive you, and I don't require a physical body, so honestly I find whatever attempts you'll make at attempting to break you laughably pitiful."
01[23:35] <@Nemi> Larry: You actually hit! Though it's hard to miss. Shots reward you with sprays of fire, and the occasional twitch, but it seems unbothered.
[23:35] <%TeslaTornado> break me*
01[23:36] <@Nemi> THIS IS A MERE PROJECTION. I WILL SAVOR YOU.
[23:36] <%Scantron> Larry runs through what's left in his gun before giving up in frustration.
[23:36] <%TeslaTornado> "Best of luck."
01[23:36] <@Nemi> Per, all.
[23:36] <%TeslaTornado> 4df+5 (Pe)
[23:36] <Glacon> TeslaTornado: (Pe): 5 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 0, 0)
[23:36] <%Scantron> 4df+3
[23:36] <Glacon> Scantron: 2 (4df+3=0, 4-, 4-, 3+)
[23:36] <DiePotato> 4df+4
[23:37] <DiePotato> 4df+4 jees glacon
[23:37] <Glacon> DiePotato: jees glacon: 2 (4df+4=4-, 0, 0, 4-)
[23:37] <TesKin|Phone> 4df+5 (perc) Add 3 if Sharp Eyes applies.
[23:37] <Glacon> TesKin|Phone: (perc) Add 3 if Sharp Eyes applies.: 3 (4df+5=0, 4-, 0, 4-)
[23:37] <ihp> 4df+7
[23:37] <Glacon> ihp: 8 (4df+7=0, 3+, 0, 0)
01[23:38] <@Nemi> Larry, Artyom— you're too busy with staring at the hulking nightmare and screaming in burning pain respectively to note this. Alim, Jacob, and Ade, however.. [pause for descrip]
01[23:39] <@Nemi> The blast shadows on the walls seem to be multiplying. Silhouettes of men, women, children, fragmented echoes of lives lost and burned away in the wake of Hell's onslaught, all crowd around you as if curious. Not just the keen eyed note what comes next— the bright glow of the infernal lieutenant is subdued, some, its constructed body now merely what it is; a projection of something far away. And all note the single white light behind him, in the tunnel, which seems to be closing in and growing rapidly.
02[23:39] * gumbal1 (retal.xobdnas.ym.raelc.lliw.1l|bmug#retal.xobdnas.ym.raelc.lliw.1l|bmug) Quit (Ping timeout: 184 seconds)
[23:40] <%TeslaTornado> Ade looks at the thing.
[23:40] <%TeslaTornado> Grins.
[23:40] <%TeslaTornado> And legs it off the tracks.
[23:40] <TesKin|Phone> Alim watches, totally poker face.
[23:40] <%TeslaTornado> OR tries to at any rate.
[23:40] <ihp> Jacob stares at this, and tries to claw his way away.
[23:40] <%Scantron> Larry looks on in confusion; he slowly grins as he realizes what's going on.
[23:40] <ihp> 4df+2 Get me away from here!
[23:40] <Glacon> ihp: Get me away from here!: -1 (4df+2=0, 4-, 4-, 4-)
[23:41] <DiePotato> Arty's busy writhing and trying to not be burned from the inside
01[23:41] <@Nemi> The fabric of reality is only so thick, after all, and something like this tearing its way into being is… something. Jacob, though you stumble and fall, unseen hands pull you away from the the tracks, while Larry and Ade can escape themselves. The lieutenant looks as perplexed as a thing that is all mouth can as a train whistle echoes through the the chamber.
[23:41] <ihp> ~Ohgodohgodohgod~
[23:41] <DiePotato> 4df+5 (AGI) Let's not get hit by a train pls
[23:41] <Glacon> DiePotato: (AGI) Let's not get hit by a train pls: 6 (4df+5=3+, 4-, 0, 3+)
[23:42] <%TeslaTornado> Ade veeeery casually steps up onto the platform.
[23:42] <%TeslaTornado> "Au revoir, you oversized Campbell's can."
[23:42] <TesKin|Phone> Alim isn't worried, he wares the shadows he's lurking in like a fine suit.
01[23:43] <@Nemi> Arty, despite the burning pain within and without, you're able to neatly extricate itself from the demon's essence grip. The entire area seems to darken, pitch black but for each person within, a faint backlight behind the— now crowd of shadows, all gathered as if to see off a voyage— the demon itself, and the train's front light.
01[23:43] <@Nemi> TOOT TOOT
[23:43] <%Scantron> Larry scrambles up onto the platform as well.
[23:43] <DiePotato> Arty grits his teeth and scrambles up with the rest.
[23:44] <%TeslaTornado> Ade finger wags at the demon. "Ta now, you massive cunt."
[23:44] <TesKin|Phone> ~Choo choo motherfucker.~
[23:44] <%TeslaTornado> "I'll be back to conquer your dimension and have you pitched, screaming, into a very deep hole, in a matter of centuries."
01[23:45] <@Nemi> The impact is felt more than seen. Light meets orange light and all goes dark, silhouettes included. Endless moments pass and the dull glow of the burning train car returns, the group finding themselves strewn about the platform, some wounded, some burned, but otherwise alive and intact. A golden door sits flat, two-dimensional, in the centre of the platform.
[23:45] <%TeslaTornado> "Right, we've found our door, can we go get your bloody useless leader out of there now?" Ade sighs. "I'm bored."
[23:46] <ihp> "…I say let him stay there for a few more days."
[23:46] <%Scantron> "… what." Larry groans as he sits up, facing the door. "Oh. Our next job is to report back to base."
[23:46] <%TeslaTornado> "I'd rather stay here a spell."
[23:46] <ihp> "The Admin was, to be frank, a jackass." He stands up and rubs his leg, wincing. "Fucking… glad I have a walking stick, at leaset."
[23:46] <TesKin|Phone> Alim steps from the shadows, reslinging his rifle.
[23:47] <%TeslaTornado> "The rest of you are free to go, but I'd like to set up supply lines with Father Gregory."
01[23:47] <@Nemi> The Way stands immobile where it is. It's present now, yes, with the banishment— banishment? of the demon's presence. But not yet accessible. All is quiet, without even the wind of the surface to break the silence.
[23:47] <%TeslaTornado> "Coordinate a long-term study of this plane."
[23:47] <ihp> Jacob frowns as he looks at where the demon was. "…I need to get a camera."
[23:47] <%TeslaTornado> "Yes, freestanding ostentatious golden door, we get it. Very exciting."
[23:47] <TesKin|Phone> Alim nods. "I would like to try and help the people here. This proves to be an intresting area for research."
[23:47] <ihp> Jacob looks at Ade. "I'd like to at least study this place for a couple of days."
01[23:48] <@Nemi> It isn't, really. There's an obnoxious process that must be undertaken in order to actually /use/ the thing.
[23:48] <%Scantron> "Yes, of course they deserve help. And to do that, we need to report back to the Foundation so they can marshal the resources to do that."
[23:49] <DiePotato> Arty picks himself up and holds his stomach.His insides feel singed.
[23:49] <TesKin|Phone> "You two can report. You are of no use here anymore."
[23:50] <DiePotato> "Fine." Arty looks to Larry. "Let's go."
[23:50] <DiePotato> ~Just want to go home and take a cold shower~
[23:50] <%Scantron> He stands up. "Suit yourselves." Brushes himself off. To Arty, "Yes. Let's." He starts back in the direction they came.
01[23:51] <@Nemi> The path back to the Piccadilly station is long but surprisingly easy. More burnt-out imp remains, along with the remains of more abstract creatures, are found along the way. Even the trip back to the original Hellgate is more sedate, less threatening, with the departure of the Malebranche. Those who choose to stay have their own adventures coming up, but for now… Survivors in a lost world have been assisted, and a Way has been found.
01[23:51] <@Nemi> ~Fin~
[23:54] <%TeslaTornado> Ade remains on deck with Fathor Grig.
01[23:55] <@Nemi> Griggsy is all too happy to talk about the different enclaves what remain. Seems the English spirit is still alive and well; while there's only a few enclaves in London itself, primarily linked by the metro, the countryside has far more. Including viable farms, even if the produce tends to be oddly coloured, oddly shaped, and with peculiar flavour.
Welcome to Fallen London