Clockwork Abattoir: Sordid Tales

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Xavier]Sampati's wrinkled lips curl into a grin: "Ah, yes, the Sog-Boys are..."

He trails off, then begins riffling through his nest's debris, occasionally stopping to rub his gibbous spine. Eventually, he selects a mildew-painted newsrag and examines it with his horn-ringed monocle.

"Yes, the Sog-Boys are a wicked trio of wingless apes. Bruisegut, Bolefinger, and Blacksocks. Simple and brutal, like the cudgels they bear. They serve the Mustachioed Queen and his crew of four-limbed spiders. They fish the dry rivers, catching gadflies and rival predators as they both feed and protect their wet-house web."

"Bruisegut is the fattest, yet most fleet with his fists. He prefers to lay them on the little ones. He pays them for their tears, but makes them earn each and every faded shell."  

"Then there is Bolefinger, the salt-haired. As the eldest, he considers himself the leader, yet his wisdom is rarely hearkened by the more youthful pair. He has a bottle filled with gin and floating eyes. He never sips it, just stares when the others aren't watching."

"Last is Blacksocks, the thin. As the leanest, he is the hungriest, and thus the most dangerous. He loves a lady across the gulch, a parasol princess who conceals her age with two masks, one of iron, one of paint. He brings her gifts, packages wet and hidden, but they are never opened."

"Like all good subjects, they hate, fear, and adore their queen. And like all good queens, he rarely sees them, save to let them lick his dirty boots. And so they serve from afar, whilst the Harpy-Hand plays the gatekeeper and voice of the violet crown."

His tale spent, Sampati stuffs the rotted newsrag back into his nest, then flashes another tooth-scarce grin.

"The Sog-Boys know of Sampati, but not what he knows. They do not come to Sampati's nest. If they did, they would not listen. They would not share. They would only speak with their knuckled tongues."[/ic]  

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Catena]The chain crashes into Jarrow. Its blow stymies his charge, sets him off-balance, and breaks a handful of his ribs. One bone juts sickeningly from his torso, but it swiftly begins to slip back beneath his skin.[/ic]

[ooc]Your turn. DC 2 to hit, DC 1 to dodge.[/ooc]

[Steerpike]

[ic]Catena attempts to loop the chain round Jarrow's neck and cinch it tight strangling him.[/ic]

[ooc]Here's my dodge, to which I'll apply one level of Grit (no Pool cost from Edge and Bloodlust):

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

Once again I'll apply a level of Grit (no Pool cost from Edge and Bloodlust) to my attack:

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

Pools:

Might 5/13, Agility 7/12, Intellect 7/7[/ooc]

[Steerpike]

[ooc]If I can decide on a minor effect from my 5, I'd like to ensure that I get my chain over Jarrow's neck.  My hope here is that while he can regenerate normal wounds he still needs air to breathe, so if I can keep the chain tight, I should eventually kill him.  That's the plan, anyway.[/ooc]

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Catena]The chain pulls taught against Jarrow's ravaged neck. A vicious struggle ensues, with Jarrow thrashing madly as Catena maintains her breath-stealing grip, even as she evades his claws and flailing tongue-dart. In doing so, however, the pair fall to the ground, tumbling over and around the ghul's body and the still-imbedded executioner's sword.[/ic]

[ooc]DC 3 to maintain your hold.[/ooc]

[Steerpike]

[ic]Catena grits her teeth, maintaining a grim hold on the chain and pulling it tight, remembering the faces of all the men and women and things she has strangled, the fights in the slave-pits, the angry red marks left by her fingertips or by her chains.[/ic]

[ooc]I'll apply a level of Grit as per usual to the roll to maintain.

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

Pools:


Might 5/13, Agility 7/12, Intellect 7/7[/ooc]

[Seraph]

[ooc]What times are places like the Sutured Cabaret active?  Would Mr. Nix be more likely to find Shiqq (and perhaps Aerugo Attercop) at night?  Or since the Ebon Ward has such a high gravespawn population, would it operate more on that schedule ("Nightlife" becomes "day-life" since Daytime is for gravespawn as night-time is for the quick)?  Trying to plan out what my next move would be. [/ooc]

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ooc=Mr. Nix]Skein is overwhelmingly populated by humans, and the vast majority of Skein's population resides in the Ebon Ward. Although the vast majority of Skein's grave-spawn reside in the Ebon Ward, they still form a paltry minority there compared to the quick.

One consequence of this, is that Skein operates largely what we might consider a 'normal' cycle of activity and rest. Being a massive city, counter-cylcles and exceptions exist in spades. Grave-spawn often fall into both.

As for Mandible Clubs, most are open all day and all night to syndicate members. Otherwise, they tend to operate as 'night-clubs'. The Scabaret is no exception. Yves is generally always there (but is not always accessible to others, be they members or outsiders). Shiqq may or may not be present and available at any one time. He, like other Repoussé Boys, are often out working streets and attending to syndicate business.

Does that answer your questions?[/ooc]

[Seraph]

[ooc]Yes, it does.  Reply coming soon.[/ooc]

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Catena]The chain grinds into Jarrow's already ravaged skin. Flesh rips, spilling dark blood that moves with fell animacy. It falls on Catena's face and slithers down her chain and tensed sinews.

Catena, caught up in a feral barrage of strangulatory memories, almost fails to notice as Jarrow's neck impossibly twists, turning till his nigh-asphyxiated face is level with hers. His tongue-tentacle snakes out, savagely kissing her cheek. It attempts to burrow, to hungrily gorge on her blood. Reflexively, she bats away the ravenous proboscis, but the act causes her grip to slip from the blood-slick chain. It flies from her hands, but still remains wound around Jarrow's neck, imbedded in skin and scarabaean ichor.

Jarrow gasps, then screams.[/ic]

[ooc]Dodge roll, DC 1. If you attack, DC 2. Attempting to grab hold of the chain and resume strangling is now a DC 4. Also recall both of you are still prone.[/ooc]

[Steerpike]

[ic]Catena rolls and grabs for the chain, attempting to pull it tight once more.[/ic]

[ooc]Defense roll with one level of Grit (Edge/Bloodlust reduces cost to 0):

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

Roll to get the chain again, applying one level of Grit (Edge/Bloodlust reduces cost to 0):

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]

Pools: Might 5/13, Agility 7/12, Intellect 7/7

Question - I'm using Edge and Bloodlust correctly, right?[/ooc]

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Catena]Catena grabs the gore-slick chain and pulls it taught, choking Jarrow's scream into a pitiful gasp. His eyes bulge, his tongue and claws flail, but Catena's grip is too tight, her scar-crossed skin too thick.

Starved for air, his blood, once a burning crimson, turns a bruise purple. As it darkens, it loses its fell power. Flesh-hexes dim. His tongue retracts. His claws shrink. The scarabs fall still and slip beneath his wounds to sleep.  The monster fades, and the man finally resurfaces. For the briefest of moments, Jarrow's eyes -now all-too human, all-too weak- stare at Catena with pitiful confusion.  Then, the doors of unconsciousness close fast. Death waits in the wing.

"Hold," Guin calls. She stands over the knot of blood-stained bodies, having approached unnoticed during the struggle's fury. Her pepperbox rests heavy in her hand, the hammer cocked back and ready to fire. For a moment, Catena thinks the gun is aimed at her, but then notices the barrel is pointed squarely at Jarrow.

"Stay your hand, Catena," she repeats. [/ic]

[ooc]Yep, you're doing it right. The archetype is a combat beast.[/ooc]

[Steerpike]

[ic]Catena looks up, teeth bared in a half-feral rictus of bloody-minded determination, then slackens her grip at Guin's insistence.  She gets to her feet, dusting herself off.  Her grip is relaxed, but she hasn't yet unwrapped the chain from Jarrow's neck, or released it from her grasp.  Her movements are those of a wary animal, suspicious and deliberate.

"I take it I have earned the contract," she says simply.[/ic]

[Rose-of-Vellum]

[ic=Catena]Guin nods. A tight, deliberate gesture.[/ic]

[Ghostman]

[ic]
Xavier squats patiently on the edge of Sampati's nest as the birdman recites the lowdown. When it ends he nods his head. "My thanks for this bit of news. If I get around to meddle in these Sog-Boys' business, I'll be sure to let you know of any interesting details I might uncover. For now, I bid you adieu." With those words he descends from the jatayu roost down to the street level, to make his way back to his kip in the Copper Ward.
[/ic]