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Clockwork Abattoir: Sordid Tales

Started by Rose-of-Vellum, February 14, 2014, 02:18:41 PM

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Steerpike

#60
[ic]Catena shoots Tlex a dark look as she hefts the ornate sword, feeling the weight of it.

"If you're out of this then leave," she says, eyes narrowed.[/ic]

[ooc]Intellect check:

This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/ooc]

Rose-of-Vellum

#61
[ic=Catena]For a moment, Tlex hesitates. But discretion proves the better part of valor. Placing his hand on the door, he says to Guin:

"Lord Elphias will have to excuse me. Three thousand chit is a meager sum to play this tune, 'specially when a man can't use his favored instrument."

Turning to Catena as he departs, he darkly adds:

"Till next time... assuming you have one."

Meanwhile, man and ghul continue their deadly struggle. Eventually recovering from her shock, the Ossifragrant latches onto the one of Jarrow's tattooed arms, twisting, crushing, and lacerating. Yet the seemingly possessed man fights on, numb to the pain and unconcerned by the injury -especially as his blood begins to froth, crystalize, and patch his flesh back together.[/ic]

[ooc]Catena has no clue what Jarrow Slake is. This is the first she's heard or seen of him -and his 'symptoms' don't definitively identify him to the relatively unscholarly ex-slave.

Also, the sword while sharp and heavy isn't balanced properly for fighting. Also, it lacks the point and the ornamentation further throws off the balance and heft. Consequently, although a heavy bladed weapon, it imposes a 1-step hindrance to attacks against moving objects -since you can't optimally change or line up strikes.[/ooc]

Rose-of-Vellum

[ic=Hadric]Upon snuffing the lit cigarillo, Hadric watches with some satisfaction as the smoke-spirit finally dissipates. His attempts to extinguish the flames crawling up his residence are another matter.[/ic]

TheMeanestGuest

[ic]Hadric stares aghast as tendrils of flame lick ever higher up the exterior of the old manse. The lumbering Nibs finally reaches him, bumping into his leg. "Nibs! You're a genius." he says, getting his hands under the water-logged demon, attempting to hoist it into range. Nibs burbles something unintelligible in reply.[/ic]

[ooc]I'm assuming might check for nibs-hoisting, I'll use grit just in case: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote][/ooc]
Let the scholar be dragged by the hook.

Ghostman

[ic]
Xavier figures that, after the backstreet fiasco and with the watchmen patrols probably still at least keeping their eyes open for anyone matching his desription, returning to the Dollhouse would be a huge gamble. Even if he could slip past the guards the doll-maker's staff might have taken notice of the commotion and be on alert for any trouble. Probably gonna have to delay any infiltration attempts till the evening hours. It'll be hard to get the job done before the end of the day then, but hopefully better chances of success. And I'll be needing a new disguise for sure.

He fixes his eyepatch in place and heads out of the Saffron Ward, intent on returning to his tenement for a bit of rest and cleaning while planning his next move.
[/ic]
¡ɟlǝs ǝnɹʇ ǝɥʇ ´ʍopɐɥS ɯɐ I

Paragon * (Paragon Rules) * Savage Age (Wiki) * Argyrian Empire [spoiler=Mother 2]

* You meet the New Age Retro Hippie
* The New Age Retro Hippie lost his temper!
* The New Age Retro Hippie's offense went up by 1!
* Ness attacks!
SMAAAASH!!
* 87 HP of damage to the New Age Retro Hippie!
* The New Age Retro Hippie turned back to normal!
YOU WON!
* Ness gained 160 xp.
[/spoiler]

Seraph

Quote from: Rose-of-Vellum
[ic=Mr. Nix]Vex follows at Mr. Nix's heels. Together, they stalk through the toxic haze, creeping ever closer to the source of the creaking, gurgling noise. It leads them out of the Tarnish, down a tortuous street strewn with flaccid clothes' lines, faded paper lanterns, and tired-eyed buskers. Turning the corner, the diabolist discovers the sound's origin.

It is a paint-chipped carriage, pulled by a six-armed cestoid. Currently stopped in front of a greasy tavern selling charred dog-meat, the carriage opens. A young boy, naked save for henna-scribed sigils and a papier mâché mask, steps out and heads to the char-house. Another much larger figure remains behind, veiled by a muslin gauze.[/ic]
[ic]"Cestoid.  Hurmmm...." Mr. Nix mutters to himself under his breath.  He has the frustrating sensation of trying to assemble a puzzle where none of the pieces seem to fit together.  A rash of disappearances.  Wealthy clients of the Brass Skulls.  The gurgling of a cestoid, but a man's shape.  The rattle of chains.  The rusted metal of the Flensery, inscribed with hellish runes by a gravespawn.  The flesh of two deaders.  Machines.  House Phan-Laru.  A mob.  A dead alchemist.  A veiled figure and a naked boy.  Slave?  Child prostitute?  Too much unknown.  

"The important pieces are missing" he decides aloud.  "They've stolen them."
The hellhound's cracked nose snuffles in his palm, and the demon replies "Then we must steal them back, mustn't we?"
"For once it speaks truth."  But to what end? He does not add.
"I always speak the truth unto my master" says the hound, and and insuppressible grin infused the words with a double meaning as it added "yea even the very letter of it."
Nix wheels round and kicks the beast hard in the abdomen, and flails fists against it, cursing and shrieking.  "DOUBLE-DEALING CUR!  IT MOCKS ME!"  

Vex yelps in pain and slinks away, but Nix still thinks he can hear it laughing at him.  "That hellhound will be the death of us." Remembering his condition he shrugs and adds "Again."

He turns his attention back to the figures and the cestoid drawing the carriage.  Do these two have anything to do with the disappearances?  Need more data.  He searches his mind to determine whether the henna symbols have any meaning he is aware of--arcane, hellish, or otherwise.  He catalogues this place, wondering if it might be connected.  Charred dog meat.  Charred enough and you don't know what meat it is: could be anything, and who's to question?  

"We will follow them.  Could be it leads us somewhere important." [/ic]
[ooc]Check to attempt to decipher the henna sigils.  If they are arcane then his witchcraft should give him expertise.  If they are arcane and diabolical, he might even have mastery.  [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Tailing the carriage without being noticed (also staying in the shadows of the building as much as possible to avoid sunlight penalties).  Stealth gives him expertise. [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Perception for anything else that might be important for him to make note of: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

Might 7  Agility 10  Intellect 14/15[/ooc]
Brother Guillotine of Loving Wisdom
My Campaigns:
Discuss Avayevnon here at the New Discussion Thread
Discuss Cad Goleor here: Cad Goleor

Bardistry Wands on Etsy

Review Badges:
[spoiler=Award(s)]   [/spoiler]

Rose-of-Vellum

[ooc]Ghostman, please roll a stealth and sight-based perception.[/ooc]

Ghostman

[ooc]
Stealth:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Perception:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

Stat pools:
Might 9/10 (0), Agility 11/14 (1), Intellect 12/12 (0)
[/ooc]
¡ɟlǝs ǝnɹʇ ǝɥʇ ´ʍopɐɥS ɯɐ I

Paragon * (Paragon Rules) * Savage Age (Wiki) * Argyrian Empire [spoiler=Mother 2]

* You meet the New Age Retro Hippie
* The New Age Retro Hippie lost his temper!
* The New Age Retro Hippie's offense went up by 1!
* Ness attacks!
SMAAAASH!!
* 87 HP of damage to the New Age Retro Hippie!
* The New Age Retro Hippie turned back to normal!
YOU WON!
* Ness gained 160 xp.
[/spoiler]

Rose-of-Vellum

[ic=Hadric]With an urgency both comical and fierce, Hadric hoists the river-bloated demon and hoses down the fire. Nibs, wrung dry like a wet towel, is assaulted by clouds of steam and smoke. The fiend coughs and sputters, than hangs limply in Hadric's arms, utterly spent and exhausted. The fire, however, is extinguished. Bits of wood smolder and smoke, but eventually the embers succumb to the riparian-moist air and Hadric's subsequent attempts to snuff them out with his now-completely singed gloves.

Once more, Nibs goes to comment on the strange affair, but his reply is an unintelligible smoke-hissing tussiculation.

Behind the erstwhile familiar, a thin crowd of pedestrians has gathered, attracted by the flash and sound of flame, smoke, and shouting. Their countenances are a mixture of curiosity, mirth, and concern. [/ic]

[ooc]The fire is out. Nibs is out for the count as well, though. Normal physics wouldn't allow enough water intake to put out the fire, but demons are anything but normal. The effort of drawing in so much water -and the inhalation of so much smoke- however has left the fiend spent -mechanically, Nibs is nauseated.[/ooc]

Rose-of-Vellum

[ic=Xavier]Xavier vanishes into the perambulating herd. So concealed, his evades the gambit of guards and leaves the Saffron Ward without incident. Shortly thereafter though, he notices a trio of Nine-Eyes thugs trailing him, but he gives them the slip with long-practiced ease.[/ic]

[ooc]Your call Ghostman whether you want to return home or potentially trail the thugs. You rolled high enough either way, so I wanted to present the option.[/ooc]


Rose-of-Vellum

[ooc]Another clarification, but this time for SH. Since the boy went into the building and the carriage is 'parked' outside, did you want to go into the establishment to spy on the boy's tattoos or wait outside and watch the carriage?[/ooc]

Seraph

Quote from: Rose-of-Vellum
[ooc]Another clarification, but this time for SH. Since the boy went into the building and the carriage is 'parked' outside, did you want to go into the establishment to spy on the boy's tattoos or wait outside and watch the carriage?[/ooc]
[ooc]I meant that he would think about the symbols he had seen before the boy went inside, but if his fleeting glance is too little to base an attempt to interpret on, then let's say he follows the boy inside to get a closer look.  He will attempt to avoid notice on the pretense of being just another customer browsing the wares.  He will, however, be keeping tabs on the carriage, in case it shows signs of going anyplace.

Deceit (to disguise his intention): [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote][/ooc]
Brother Guillotine of Loving Wisdom
My Campaigns:
Discuss Avayevnon here at the New Discussion Thread
Discuss Cad Goleor here: Cad Goleor

Bardistry Wands on Etsy

Review Badges:
[spoiler=Award(s)]   [/spoiler]

Ghostman

[ic]
Xavier hides behind a half-loaded cart parked next to a shop and allows the the thugs to pass by. Nine-Eyes... I should find out where they're headed. It could be useful knowledge for the syndicate. He waits until the trio has moved to a safe distance and begins to shadow them, again removing his eyepatch for better vision.
[/ic]

[ooc]
I'm striving to maintain a lengthy distance to maximise safety, even at the cost of possibly making it harder to keep track of the trio. I'm assuming that this'll call for stealth and/or perception rolls, so I'm including both.

Stealth, with Grit applied:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

Perception:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

Stat pools:
Might 9/10 (0), Agility 10/14 (1), Intellect 12/12 (0)

[/ooc]
¡ɟlǝs ǝnɹʇ ǝɥʇ ´ʍopɐɥS ɯɐ I

Paragon * (Paragon Rules) * Savage Age (Wiki) * Argyrian Empire [spoiler=Mother 2]

* You meet the New Age Retro Hippie
* The New Age Retro Hippie lost his temper!
* The New Age Retro Hippie's offense went up by 1!
* Ness attacks!
SMAAAASH!!
* 87 HP of damage to the New Age Retro Hippie!
* The New Age Retro Hippie turned back to normal!
YOU WON!
* Ness gained 160 xp.
[/spoiler]

Steerpike

[ic]Catena attempts to push the stuffed grotesque over, hoping to crush (or at least disorient) the two combatants before she moves in for the kill.[/ic]

[ooc]Might check (I assume) to knock the thing over:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote][/ooc]

Rose-of-Vellum

#74
[ic=Mr. Nix]Even from afar, Mr. Nix identifies the henna markings as diabolic in nature. Their exact import, however, evades him at such a distance. And so, ducking into the greasy char-pit, he approaches the masked waif to get a better look.

Inside the smoke-choked establishment, a gnarled woman shaves off blackened meat from a vertical, steam-powered rotisserie. She half-barks, half-yells at the ghul to stay at the back of the line, even as she continues to serve a series of straw-hatted, rash-blotched customers. Shuffling behind the masked youth, Mr. Nix is able to easily study the skin-marking.

By the time the waif reaches the front of the line, orders, and departs with an oil-stained penny-dreadful filled with meat shavings, Mr. Nix deciphers the markings: they mark the boy as a sacrifice, a foreordained feast for an assembly of demons referred to as Byleth's Diet. In addition to this grisly, if mundane, declaration, the sigils have an eldritch purpose. Apparently, they capture the boy's otherwise ephemeral emotions, steeping his skin with the esoteric flavor of increasingly-layered moods.  

As the waif makes his way back to the cestoid-pulled carriage, the rotisserie-shaver interrupts Mr. Nix's thoughts with a raspy cough. "Tramp's not on the menu, half-man," she barks with a desiccated grimace, waving her paired cleavers meaningfully, "So how much you want? Or're you selling the dog?"[/ic]