Paridon: The Dark Metropolis (Ravenloft)

[industrygothica]

Darian's voice wavers as Alek removes Suki's cloak. What has he done to you? he asks himself. Slowly, still humming, he advances toward the scene, rage swelling within him--not toward the gnome-thing, but towards Alek. I should feed you to this thing, he thinks, as you are doing to Suki. He takes a stance directly next to Alek--almost on top of him--as he gives the idea some serious thought.

He reaches into his jacket for his last tanglefoot bag. He doesn't want to use it, but he won't let Suki be served to this creature for fodder. The distraction, if needed, should at the very least lend an opportunity to pull her away.

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

Tears roll from Calahan's eyes as he is dragged into the coach...

"My life... By Ezra, I thought I was done for..."

After fiercely hugging one of his helpers, Calahan immediately goes on his knees, and with shaking hands, puts another arrow on his bow.

"Help me get a clean shot, friends, and I will be able to bring this monster down!"

Calahan will aim at the right knee of the gnome, concentrate briefly, and then shoot...

Afterwards, he will stand up, and sweating and struggling to keep on his feet, wlak over to the driver as fast as he can.

"Boy, do you have some brandy or inflamable oil around? - I have an idea..."

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Ru rushes over to Torhan, carefully watching as the gnome seems to stutter as he watches the four. Ru bends over, and the gnome lashes out. Yet Ru predicts this, and deftly avoids the gnome's strike. He scoops up the paladin, just managing to hold him over his shoulder and stagger out of the way. Blood pumps forcefully through Ru's body as he-just for a moment-realized how his former rage would be to his benefit, just this once...

Marionette takes the moment to lash out, throwing her small frame into an arc as her hand-chain wraps around the gnome's arm. The gnome and the pet begin to grapple in a bizarre dance. The odd way that Marionette shifts her weight as if held by strings, her entangling of the gnome's limbs, and the method by which front and back, up and down, seem to hold no meaning for him, leave a surreal twisting of limbs for dominance. Bile rising quickly in his throat, Darian pulls out his tanglefoot bag. No, Suki he thinks as he debates using the bag. No, not in the middle of the grapple--that could stick them both together...

Calahan fires an arrow into this morass, yet must adjust his aim as Ru heads straight for him, with Torhan. Too quickly, it turns out, as the arrow flies harmlessly past them. He calls to Tavish for oil or alcohol. Barely thinking as he continues to calm the horses, Tavish pulls a flat metal flask from his jacket and tosses it. Calahan catches it.

BONG. The clock calls out the 15-minute mark. At that instant, the gnome stops, shakes free of Marionette, and walks away from her.

The gnome turns to leave.​

Alek calls out, "Come back, Marionette! Everyone, away!" as he scrambles into the coach cab. He crawls over Torhan's body, and places his mouth close to Torhan's ear...

[sblock=Torhan] "Wake up, Torhan. Time to live. Sasha lies and waits." [/sblock]

Torhan suddenly gasps for air and doubles over, coughing, but rising back to consciousness (+11 hp). Everyone is huddled near or in the coach, with the sole exception of Marionette.

Ru: 16/30
Torhan: 10/40
Calahan: 3/23
Fr. Berman: 26/30
Darian: 11/20

[sblock=credit]Photo by Soffia Gisladottir [/sblock]

 

[industrygothica]

Darian struggles with whether to chase the thing or not, and finally decides against it... for now. We'll be meeting again, Monsieur, I promise you that. He steps toward the coach and realizes that Marionette--or Suki, as he will continue to call her--has yet to make her way to the coach. Gently, he moves in her direction, passing a cold stare toward Alek.

You know more than you let on, manipulator. The truth is in you, and it will be mine for the taking.

"Come, lady. Your dance is done," he says to Suki. "And a fine one it was, but let us now leave this wicked place."

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

Calahan will concentrate on making a Drakov cocktail (the Ravenloftian version of a Molotov cocktail I guess) out of the flask and a piece of cloth. (If there are no dry rags lying nearby, or none of his companions can offer assistance, Calahan will simply rip the pieces he needs from his own clothing.)

If the gnome should return to attack the party, he will throw it on him...

After finishing his work, Calahan will get on his feet, and without really caring for the others, check the scene of the fight for any hints.

If he finds blood of the gnome on the ground, he will tpoint the others to it and ask if they have methods of analyzing it...

 

[jkason]

Ru Brike, barbaric human monk

Ru rushes over to Torhan, carefully watching as the gnome seems to stutter as he watches the four. Ru bends over, and the gnome lashes out. Yet Ru predicts this, and deftly avoids the gnome's strike. He scoops up the paladin, just managing to hold him over his shoulder and stagger out of the way. Blood pumps forcefully through Ru's body as he-just for a moment-realized how his former rage would be to his benefit, just this once...

Torhan suddenly gasps for air and doubles over, coughing, but rising back to consciousness (+11 hp). Everyone is huddled near or in the coach, with the sole exception of Marionette.

"Welcome back," Ru says to Torhan. He turns to watch the gnome creature depart, fingers itching to engage it, but reason telling him to wait for a better time.

He turns to Alek, then, and though it's clear he's swallowing his frustration, says calmly, "My thanks for saving our companion."

 

[kinem]

Father Berman, though curious about Alek and his henchwomen, decides that getting the group back into shape is his first priority. Without their health, they were completely at the mercy of Alek.

He pulls out his wand and taps Calahan, speaking the command. He then does it again, as Calahan appeared the most wounded at the moment, and goes around to each of the other cops.

(ooc: CLW, 1d8+1, twice to Callahan and once to Ru, Torhan, and Darian)

 

[Rhun]

Torhan breathes deep, his brush with death having taken a lot out of him. "What," he says between gasps, "was that thing?"

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Marionette, exhausted, rights herself and sprints for the coach. Calahan runs past her, trying to find something to salvage, some clue to the gnome's identity. He stops at a lump in the corner, a pile of petticoats.

Darian meets Marionette--no, Suki, she will always be Suki--at the coach door and catches her as she leaps into the carriage. Her hand flails inattentively against his side, and he winces. She gasps slightly, and the two lock eyes. She is still there, Darian realizes.

Calahan instinctively grabs at a petticoat and tears off a strip, before thinking about it. He stuffs it in the flask, lights it and tosses it. It lands at the feet of the gnome, who stopped at the wall at the end of the alley. It explodes. The gnome turns around, merely nonplussed.

Fr. Berman sets to work at healing the other police. As Darian carefully sets Suki down, Alek stares at Ru. After a pause, he replies, "No thanks necessary. We all need someone we can trust."

The gnome glares at Calahan. A throaty, hollow cackle or clacking emerges from his throat. His head twists back, forth, back--then he reaches back, and crabwalks up the wall.

A hand grabs Calahan's ankle.

The pile of petticoats move slightly, revealing an older female gnome. Her mask is round and pudgy, like a matronly baby. As she grips Calahan, she responds weakly, "Officer! Everything's okay now. I found my son. I found my..."

She is lost. Calahan looks at Fr. Berman, busy with healing. He looks at Tavish, who shakes his head. He cannot stay. Quickly, Calahan scoops up the woman's corpse and hops onto the back of the coach as it heads off, toward the police station.

(+2 hp to Ru, +2 hp to Torhan, +8 hp to Darian. Fate's a fickle thing. Calahan will be targeted at first opportunity.)

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

(... Fate's a fickle thing. Calahan will be targeted at first opportunity.)

Woohoo!