[D20 CoC] Beyond the Mountains of Madness Campaign - Prologue

[Taokan]

Camille often compared this episode afterwards to the various dramatic happenings during the French Revolution; not neccesarrily needed, or useful, but noteworthy nonetheless.

In hindsight, it was a good thing that part of her misspent youth was spent brawling with the neighborhood boys in whatever country she happened to be in at the time. Usually she was soundly defeated, (as even then Camille had been tiny and undermuscled) but it did teach her a few things.

Springing out of her chair moments after the shout, "He's got a gun!", Camille grabbed the nearest weapon -a butter knife- and peered about the ballroom, searching for whomever supposedly had a gun.

 

[taitzu52]

Seeing the man over thirty feet away from him, Jim does what he can to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable folk around him. He turns to the gentry (especially the ladies), and curtly says, "Get down. Kneel behind the table." The last thing he wants is a stampede. Jim ducks behind his chair, a glass still in hand.

 

[Bobitron]

Vittorio's eyes grow wide at the mention of a gun. While he had spent some time around the hunters and soldiers that often accompany an expedition, he had never had any direct experience with firearms. Ducking down next to his chair, he couches and stays still, peeking over the table at the interloper. If one took the time amidst the chaos to look in his eyes, they would see no fear, but simply a calculated effort to stay out of harm's way.

 

[jdeleski]

Chaos Ensues

Martin jumps from his seat-knocking his chair over. He starts to run towards the strange individual making his way towards the stage.
"He's got a gun!"

As Martin and Paco spring to action, time seems to slow; each heartbeat, each pump of legs and arms, each breath stretching to eternity. In that crystalline moment of eerie stillness, memories are indelibly etched. Over one hundred heads slowly rotate in unison, ballet-like, towards Martin, mouths uniformly agape and eyes wide with fear. Lawrence, as named by James Starkweather, begins a slow twisting motion of his upper torso to the right, arms extended, upraising, blue-black pistol at their extremity; his head turning, straining to look over his shoulder to see his accoster, revealing a look of astonishment and pain.

The moment shatters and a wave of madness sweeps the room. A great cry of alarm erupts and nearly the entire room seems to jump from their seats, attempting to scramble directly away from Lawrence, some fleeing directly into the path of Martin and Paco. Chairs tumble, dishes and glasses crash, men and women push and stumble over each other, crying out in pain. Groups of individuals nearest the rear doors race from the room, yelling loudly.

Martin, with Paco following, runs as fast as possible while dodging chairs and pushing past a few patrons, attempting to close the gap with his target. Lawrence completes his spin to face them, slightly out of balance, both arms raised towards his onrushing opponents. His expression changes to one of utter sadness as his lips can be seen enunciating the word "No!" amid the din.

You hear James Starkweather yell "Lawrence, get down on the floor!" into the microphone, his voice booming across the room like a roll of thunder above the cacaphony, but his command is ignored. James leaps from the stage to race towards Lawrence, but he is quickly cut off and swallowed by a wave of guests scrambling in his direction to escape the alleged attacker.

One brave man directly opposite the aisle from Lawrence can be seen crouching, apparently coiling to spring across the gap in an attempt to tackle him.

Camille grabbed the nearest weapon -a butter knife- and peered about the ballroom, searching for whomever supposedly had a gun.

Camille admirably defends her space, approximately 25 feet from the nexus of trouble.

Game information
[sblock]OOC - At this point in the action, Martin, is approximately at the X on the map while Lawrence remains positioned at the Y, 10 feet away. Paco is 10 feet behind Martin.

Both Martin and Paco will need to push past 2 fleeing partygoers remaining in their path, and avoid a fallen chair, to cross the remaining ten foot gap to reach Lawrence. Their options include, but are not limited to a) moving and attacking, b) charging and attacking, c) moving and grappling, or d) charging and bum rushing.

How the next round of action plays out, of course, will be subject to the initiative rolls (which have already been rolled but may not be obvious from the posts).
[/sblock]

 

[Taokan]

Hearing the yell, "Lawrence, get down on the floor!" Camille sat herself unconcernedly on the edge of her table, spearing a sliver of roast duck with the butter knife. Her thinking was that if Starkweather was shouting orders to the gunman without worry, then Lawrence obviously couldn't be too much of a threat; otherwise, Starkweather would undoubedly be doing something impressive or stupid. Or both.

Casually munching on her duck, Camille adjusted her seat imperceptibly on the table so her legs wouldn't be bumped by fleeing guests. Cooly washing down the duck with a glass of water, Camile absently wondered how many guests would return later; then, upon deciding it wasn't too important, gingerly rooted through the ramains of her dinner, avoiding the asparagus like the proverbial plague.

 

[Morpheus]

Pushing past the panicked guests, Martin tries to close the distance between the attacker and him. I must get that gun out of his hands, Martin's brain screams to him.

OOC: Charge and grapple the hand with the pistol.

 

[jdeleski]

COMBAT HAS ERUPTED!
All players, please consult the OOC thread to help work through the actions.

Pushing past the panicked guests, Martin tries to close the distance between the attacker and him. I must get that gun out of his hands, Martin's brain screams to him.

OOC: Charge and grapple the hand with the pistol.

With Paco following, Martin ran full speed toward the gun-wielding individual, adrenaline flooding his system. In an impressive display of dexterity, he brushed past one tuxedoed guest and knocked a second, who shouted his surprise, off to the side, then leaped a chair to reach the attacker.

Martin lowered his torso at the last moment before contact, burying his shoulder deep into the man's stomach, encircling his left arm around the man's waist and using his right to force the assailant's arms and gun toward the ceiling. The man's breath smelled of the grave, nearly gagging Martin, as the force of his hit drove the air with a loud groan from the man's lungs. Martin's forward momentum completely lifted the man off his feet and sent both men flying backwards, locked together, legs and arms outstretched, to crash to the floor some 5 feet behind.

Martin's landing was cushioned by the gunman's body beneath him, but the gunman somehow managed to keep a grip on his weapon. A furious struggle began and Martin lunged forward, attempting to grab the gun, but only managed to grasp the man's wrist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job (the tortured one).

 

[Bobitron]

Vittorio holds his ground. He decided long ago that jumping in front of a man with a gun when others are perfectly willing to do it is just foolish. Let the heroic Americans dodge the bullets of this madman, he reasoned. I am staying right here.

 

[The Shaman]

Martin bears the gunman to the floor with a thud as Paco wends his way through the crowd, brushing aside the panicked party-goers. As the mysterious figure struggles with Martin, the mountaineer lets his weight fall on the gunman’s arm and shoulder. Paco reaches for the gun and attempts to twist it from the struggling man’s grasp.

 

[Morpheus]

"Gimme the gun before you hurt yourself."