Flintlock & Tomahawk: Endgame

[Old Fezziwig]

[This is the last section of my CoC d20 PbP set in Massachusetts during King Philip's War.]

Int. - Farmhouse, New Warrenton - Early Morning

Things started to unravel as Gregory made his circuit around the outskirts of the town. The source of the movements and activity that Speid had noticed in town became readily apparent when the dragoon was dragged off his horse by a burly, shambling corpse just past the center of town. No sooner had he hit the ground than a few more -- the size and shape of adult women and older children -- leapt from buildings and started to rend the corpse with their sharp nails.

As you watched this scene from your vantage points in the hills surrounding the town, you failed to notice the noises from the woods behind you until it was too late. Indians, in a similar condition to Patuckson's corpse, yellow sigils glowing from their forehead, their flesh burnt, poured out from behind thickets and large trees, flushing you out of your posts and down towards the town, where a small mob of the erstwhile townsfolk surrounded the body and horse of Gregory, leaving an open path towards shelter in one of the farmhouses on the outskirts of town.

The party fled down the hills, quickly and quietly, the dead natives at their heels. Rushing towards the farmhouse, Speid, Abcott, and Sykes quickly scope it out, (it's a single room house with partial loft, there is no sign of life in it) rush in, and bolt the door. This is when you notice Pitcairne isn't with you. Before you can look outside for the natural philosopher, you hear a tap-tap-scratching at the farmhouse door.[sblock]A little railroady, I know, and I apologize, but I wanted to set up a dramatic scene and get the party back into the thick of the action in order to build up a little momentum to push it towards the endgame. I will remove my (heavy)hand from the throttle now, and let the game resume its natural course. My main assumption here, as far as controlling the action, was considering what would happen in the case of a zombie attack, and it seems to be a trope that a small group of people always end up in a small, but defensible area, surrounded by vicious zombies. It's a genre convention.[/sblock]

 

[Committed Hero]

[sblock]Are there any windows in the loft?
BTW I have no problems with the setup.[/sblock]

"Pitcairn? Where in Hades is that man?"

 

[Rookseye]

"SYKES!!!, Help me lad! HELP ME, I BEG YE!!!"

The courageous but foolhardy dragoon's plaintive screaming still fills Syke's ears, the words lost in agonizing, blubbering screams that sound too much like a gurgling recrimination of his friends before they are snuffed out. The ghastly image of the pallid walking corpses pulling his friend limb from limb is worsened by Thomas' inability to do anything save think of his own well-being when faced with the onslaught of the shambling townsfolk and Indians. He is bolting the heavy wooden door of the cramped farmhouse before he even realizes that Abcott and the madman Speid have managed to follow him to safety. Relief fills him when he realizes he is not alone, and it is enough to push his mortal fear to the wayside for a moment.

As Abcott shouts incoherently about Pitcairne, it occurs to Sykes that the older scholar's own cries were but stinging echoes compared to the impossibly loud agony of James, receding further and further behind them as they fled. Still, for all that, they were no less horrific.

"Abcott, ABCOTT!, help me barricade the bloody door, damn it! Or you will full well know what has become of Pitcairne!!!"

[sblock] Sykes becomes even more unhinged. It hurts him all the worse, as he owes his own life to Gregory and could do nothing for the man.

KL, do we need any SAN checks for this, or is it just considered a narrative progression?

Sykes is at this point primarily concerned (in this order) with the number of windows in the farmhouse, the stoutness of the door, the availability of furniture to barricade said door, and how one gains access to the loft. Ladder or stair? [/sblock]

 

[WargamerX]

As soon as the party enters the building, Speid gets an insane look in his eyes (again). He runs to a window, levels one of his pistols at the head of a zombie trying to get in and shoots through the glass into the glowing Yellow Sign on the wretch's forehead.

As the zombie's brains blow out the rear of its skull and Abcott and Sykes jump at the unannounced explosion and breaking glass, Speid screams out the window, Where is he?! Come to ME, Cale you rotten sonovabitch!!!!

 

[Old Fezziwig]

[sblock]To answer some questions: 4 windows, one for each wall, none of them particularly big. The loft is accessible with a ladder, and there may be a window up there, you would have to check. Furniture is pretty typical, but sparse: wooden table, chairs, a dresser. There's a pallet up the loft, but not much in the way of furniture up there (a few baskets and a small, light chest). There is also a chimney with a grated fire pit where the southern wall meets the eastern wall. The door is in the northern wall, slightly off center towards the east. I'll let this information sit, and y'all can plan or do anything you like. If no one has anything to post, I'll push this along tomorrow.

As for the SAN loss, don't worry about it. There'll be plenty of chances to lose Sanity in game, so we'll call it narrative progress. [/sblock]

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Abcott and Sykes barricade the door as Speid shoots a zombie straight through the head, its brain and various effluvia exploding noxiously. After the echo of his gunshot clears, the town and farmhouse are momentarily calm, a group of zombies slowly approaching the small dwelling.[sblock]You have no more than 18 seconds (three rounds) to fortify/make moves before you'll have to work off a zombie attack. Please post your actions (and be reasonable ).[/sblock]

 

[Committed Hero]

Abcott scrambles up to loft for a look at the baskets and chest.

 

[Rookseye]

After the dresser has been pushed in front of the door to serve as a makeshift barricade, Sykes roughly overturns the wooden table and drags it to the base of the ladder leading to the loft, positioning it in such a way as to create a rough "bunker" facing anything that should burst through the door.

He unsheathes his knife and plants it in the back of the knotty wooden table, along with his hatchet, to keep them in easy reach.

Working quickly, trying to block out the horrid, yearning growls of the creatures, he prepares as many powder loads as possible, laying out his lead in an even line, before placing the last of the balls in his musket and priming it.

Not certain if there is any time left to shout a warning, he calls to Abcott,

"Remain above, Mister Abcott! I will watch the door and Speid will man the windows. If anything should come upon our backs, fire upon it, drop furniture upon it, hail down a storm of Godly invective upon it if need be! The time will come when we will need to mount the ladder ourselves and make a stand above, so be ready to defend us as we mount thy ladder!"

As vicious crunching sounds begin to emanate from the rough-hewn doorway, Sykes swallows and begs God and all his host for the courage to weather the assault. A visceral will to survive begins to supersede all other rational thought, and the Lord's Prayer begins to spill softly from his lips, almost of its own accord.

"Pater noster qui es in caelis: sanctificetur nomen tuum..."

 

[WargamerX]

Speid, noting that Cale has yet to make an appearance and that the zombies are still coming on, quickly reloads his fired pistol. After seeing that Sykes has created a nice fallback position and that he could feasibly leap over the table, the Scot moves to another window, identifies a nearby zombie and attempts to slay another of his old freinds.

At least I can winnow them down he murmers as the pistol speaks shattering another window.

 

[WargamerX]

Oh, and Speid is going to try and get a quick count of how many zombies there actually are. Is his shooting enough to winnow down the mob, or are there too many?