Insanity

[Rezantis]

Oh shit!

Nathan walks slowly towards the . . . what he presumes to be a dead girl.

"Who did this, and where are they?" he asks quietly, staring straight at the ghost.

[Brian]

"Mm...mma...."  She blinks, reels, and then seems to regain her composure.  "Master Shuker?"  She shakes her head quickly.  "They haven't left yet; you must leave, before they come after you!  They....  Brutes, I don't know who sent them, but they pushed me down the stairs.  I feel I've taken a great tumble."  One hand goes to her head, and she steadfastly ignores her body.  "I'm dizzy," she adds, almost hysterical.  "They're still in your father's study."

[Rezantis]

"You . . ." Nathan trails off.  How do you tell someone they're dead?

"I don't . . . remember the house too well," he says slowly, "Where's my father's study?"

[Brian]

"This way, Master," she says with a nod -- probably glad to get her mind off it and away from her body.  She marches up the stairs, her hand passing through the banister twice before she balls it into a fist at her side.  At the top of the landing, she drops her voice, gesturing down one of the halls.  "The second door on the left," she whispers.

Code Select Expand

Hatbot decided to be nice with:

Rez rolls 3d6 and gets 8.
The sound of rustling can be heard down the hall.  Nathan pads across the carpet silently, his new shoes not even creaking until he's adjacent to the doorway.

"Anyone else?" a male voice whispers suddenly.

"Nah.  Just the bint.  We'd best hurry, though."

"Where is the blighted thing, anyway?  Do we even know what it looks like?"

"Hathoway said we'd know!  Shut up and keep looking."

[Rezantis]

Nathan concentrates - and produces the warbag.  Placing it quietly on the ground, he removes a flashlight, his bow and quiver as quickly as he can, then moves several yards further down the hallway.

Assuming nothing distracts him in the meantime, he'll toss a flashlight into the wall on the other side of the door so as to make a decent sized thud - then draw a bead on the doorway.

OOC:

Real Influence to:
Offhanding (9cp)
+2 Bow OCV (6cp)

Earth Influence to:
+1 Dex (3cp)
+3 DFC (3cp)
+1 Sword OCV (3cp)
+5 END (2.5cp)

My Combat Pool +1 will go to OCV, giving me a total OCV of 8.  Crappy, but hopefully enough if I surprise someone!

[Brian]

The first of the men through the door is just a dark blur; he appears at exactly the right height to catch the arrow directly in the back of his skull.  There's the soft meaty sound of iron-point piercing bone, and he tumbles like a rag-doll, his momentum carrying him forward to roll up on one shoulder and abruptly lay still.  His companion backpedals frantically, throwing himself into the doorway -- missing, and slamming up against the wall by the door.

However, he is able to draw a pistol from his belt and fire it at the same motion, sending a scorching beam of some searing energy through the space where Nathan just was.

[Rezantis]

Nathan's eyes widen as the beam flies past him - he wasn't expecting actual guns - and ducks to the side belatedly, loosing another arrow at the second man.

[Brian]

This arrow is a less aimed shot, but slams into the man's free hand.  He cries out in pain and desperately fires back.  The pain must be jarring him -- his shot goes wide.

The maid, previously frozen with shock, attempts to fling herself at the man, crying out, "No!  Run, Master Shuker!  Run!"  The man seems oblivious to her, eyes focused on Nathan and filled with terror.

[Rezantis]

"Drop it or the next one goes through your EYE," Nathan growls, as nocks another arrow - taking aim at the man before the thug can get his own weapon to bear again.

OOC: PRE attack + Cover attack.  If he doesn't put it down or points it at me again, arrow gets loosed.

[Brian]

"Very good, Sir," he yelps, dropping the gun and holding his hands up, wincing as his eye catches the arrow.  The maid is behind him, tears filling her eyes as she turns to look.

"I didn't do anything," she moans.

At the same time, there's a call from downstairs.  "Hello?" someone calls.  "This is constabulary!"  Nathan maintains his focus on the ruffian.

[Rezantis]

"Turn around and walk downstairs," Nathan says flatly.

Once he's turned around and taken several steps, Nathan releases the offhand power and goes to pick up the gun.

[Brian]

The man does exactly as instructed.  The gun is lightweight, warm, and looks rather like a revolver.  Instead of a six-chamber cylinder, there's a large glass-like silver tube which appears to be bisected into two distinct compartments.

Keeping his hands in the air, the man does as instructed, which means walking straight to the (evident) police.  Nathan can't see them from his angle, but he hears the cry of alarm, and a harshly questioning, "Who are you, then?  What's going on, here?"

[Rezantis]

Nathan puts it straight down again - going to the police while holding a gun wouldn't be wise - and looks at the maid.

"Thank you for trying," he says quietly, "they . . . killed you.  You're a ghost."

[Brian]

She slumps, eyes watering.  Then she turns to the man lying dead on the floor.  "He was the one," she whispers.  "So, there's that, at least.  Oh, Master Shuker, I'm not ready to be dead!  What do I do?  Where do I even begin, now?"

From downstairs, "Hoy!  What happened to the arrow?  No funny-stuff--  You two, get upstairs, find out what's going on!  You two, around the back.  Edgar, you're with me -- this way."

[Rezantis]

"I don't know," he says slowly, "but I have to see to the constabulary before they come and shoot me."

Loud enough to be heard downstairs: "I am Doctor Shuker, and I am coming down."