Chapter 1: Prudence

[Enoch]

Shadrach grimaces in pain as a tentacle lashes across his chest, drawing blood. He risks a quick glance upward as the sound of gunfire explodes in the street and narrowly avoids a claw that would have disemboweled him as a result.

"This is not looking good, Sister. If this thing takes me, run upstairs. Hide from whoever's shooting if you have to. The Mother Church still has need of you."

He steps deliberately and slowly back toward the doorway as the rifle chatters again and the shadow-hound leaps for the creature, mostly interposing his naked torso between the hellspawn and the nun.

Burst-fire: [1d20+3]=2+3=5, [1d20+3]=15+3=18, damage [1d12+3]=2+3=5

Grim's Attack: [1d20+1]=14+1=15, damage [1d10]=10
Shadrach: 19 to hit (True Hand), 5 damage.
Grim: 15 to hit, 10 damage.

[cybersavant]

Báleygr sits alone at his table, solemnly regarding the scraps of his breakfast on his plate. The Saloon is empty, Mirko having stepped out the back, no one else up and still inside here at the cusp of dawn. BOOM! a shotgun blast. Bang-Bang-Bang! A half-dozen rifles, at least. He can see the movement in the street, passing the Saloon windows and heading up Main Street towards the Church. The front door hangs open. Through it, he sees that lawyer, Taavi, with the two accused, Hansel and Talina, alone in the dusty street outside.

Báleygr Gangleri eases over to peek out the corner of a window to view the street. Upon seeing the carnage and chaos, he scurries back to his table to collect his belongings. He heads for the back door where Mirko went.

[Marullus]

Cool, that covers inside the church and saloon. We need the main street actors - Hansel, Talina, Emile. Taavi can act again, having collected Lira (I won't charge your action for that).

[jemmus]

Taavi hadn't expected Judge Lira Bunt to react like this. But there's no time. Come, Judge Bunt. He rushes over to the bartender Mirko lying in the street. He takes his already blood handkerchief from his pocket and tries to staunch the blood flowing from one gunshot wound. Lira, give me your handkerchief, a piece of your shirt, whatever cloth you have. He considers asking her to find the doctor, but he doubts she would succeed in her state. Best just keep her nearby and away from the two mobs.

Dex/Heal [2d6+2]=7+2=9

[greyarea]

Emile starts for the church, his sunshooter at the ready. Hold it there, Anja, he commands. And you too, missy, aimed at the handmaiden. We don't need no more violence, we need answers. What happened at that church?

Emile Initiative [1d8+2]=1+2=3 Possibly after they've both been shot by the mob...

Emile Cha+Talk [2d6r2+2]=7+2=9

[redwarrior]

Hansel looks at Talina. Did he say werewolves? I think he said werewolves.... I take ONE night off... . Quickly surveys the scene...The shell-shocked judge, the lawyer helping the man on the ground, the bleeding bartender, the crowds attacking the sheriff and the church. The sheriff doesn't seem like a bad guy, for a lawman. But that's a lot of people for one man with one blaster. ... and werewolves? As for the church, he has no idea what goes on there, but there are a lot of people doing it. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he speaks to Talina again Why don't you grab the judge and follow me to the saloon. I -- erm, I mean the judge could use a drink, I think. Hoping she follows along, He sets off at a brisk pace towards the door to the saloon, where Mirko is. As he reaches Mirko, he'll bend down to grab the shotgun as well as the back of Mirko's shirt, and attempt to drag him into the saloon. As he enters, he shouts at the top of his voice Zoe! Ma'am! Are you here?! Your employer needs aid!

[Marullus]

Ambiance: You Can't Save Everybody

Inside the Church...
Amalia draws her laspistol and braces herself at the doorway, standing at the bottom of the stairs. The black rift roils, a mass of tentacles and two clawed limbs gripping the edge and pulling through, a slurping noise and 'pop' as it emerges, as if breaking free of its otherworldly prison. A rubbery black tentacle shoots outward towards Shadrach, slashing like a serrated whip. He dodges backwards, but the tip of one grazes his naked chest, drawing a trickle of red blood (-1). The creature's growl rumbles in satisfaction, tucking the oozing stump of its other long tentacle underneath its bulk.

Partially covered by the doorway to the stairs, Amalia fires her laspistol at the monstrosity, her shot going wide. Shadrach backs across the room away from the lashing tentacle, interposing himself at the doorway between the beast and the ordained sister. Gunshots echo faintly from the street above.

"This is not looking good, Sister. If this thing takes me, run upstairs. Hide from whoever's shooting if you have to. The Mother Church still has need of you."

The shadowhound leaps at the otherworldly monstrosity from the flank. The tentacle monster recoils slightly and the hound's bite goes wide, the hound landing and turning to snarl at its quarry. The monster lets out an eerie keening of its rage, trying to grasp the ephemeral hound with its clawed limbs. Grim dodges, growling protectively as it continues to face the beast. Braaaaap! another hail of bullets from Shadrach cascades across the room, tearing through the distracted monster (-5).

Dawn on the Main Street...
Outside the church, Anja halts in surprise as she comes face to face with the angry mob, the fear on her face clearly not being in regard to them. "Sheriff Skender! I need the Sheriff!" she yells. "I bet she does!" sneers a bearded and balding farmer. Gunshots erupt behind them on the steps of the Sheriff's Office. "HELP!" screams Anja as the mob breaks loose like racing hounds released by the sound of gunshots, surging forward to harm her and light-up the church.

Emile starts for the church, his sunshooter at the ready. "Hold it there, Anja,", he commands. "And you too, missy,", aimed at the handmaiden. "We don't need no more violence, we need answers. What happened at that church?" The serene Handmaiden smiles placidly, still walking away calmly, heading towards the boarding house despite the six shooter aimed at her head.

Braaaap! the muffled but unmistakable sound of bust-fire from a combat rifle comes from within the church, causing enough confusion to give the mob just a moment's pause. Anja's voice quavers as she answers Emile, "I... I was just trying to help Teo. I... didn't mean to..." Another burst of combat rifle fire within. An otherworldly keening noise. Looks of horror, revulsion, and revelation spread across the faces of the mob. "She DID it! She unleashed HELL! She's in it with Teo!" different voices exclaim. "Burn it! Burn it down! Quick!" Petrol cans splash upon the clapboard siding, torches trying to touch it off, the mob moving to burn the church while Emile holds Anja at gunpoint.

...

Mirko jolts as two bullets rip through his torso, splattering the exterior of the saloon next to him. His shotgun slips from his fingers and he falls forward to his knees. "Sonofabitch!" yells an enraged Sheriff across the street, racking the action on his rifle to chamber another round.

Circumventing the crowd with some effort, Taavi reaches the shell-shocked Lira Bunt in front of the Saloon, only about five yards from where Mirko kneels, bleeding. One look tells him she's not okay. "I can't." she looks up at him, her eyes haunted and far away. "I can't fix this." She acquiesces to grip his arm and follow. "Come, Judge Bunt." He rushes over to the bartender Mirko lying in the street. He takes his already blood handkerchief from his pocket and tries to staunch the blood flowing from one gunshot wound, but it keeps pulsing through his fingers, dripping onto the dry dust of the road, the life running out of the dying man. "Lira, give me your handkerchief, a piece of your shirt, whatever cloth you have." She fumbles for a kerchief in her pockets, her non-functional high-tech communicator held absently in the other hand.

Hansel looks at Talina. "Did he say werewolves? I think he said werewolves.... I take ONE night off..." He quickly surveys the scene. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he speaks to Talina again "Why don't you grab the judge and follow me to the saloon. I -- erm, I mean the judge could use a drink, I think." Hoping she follows along, He sets off at a brisk pace towards the door to the saloon, where Mirko is.

Hansel reaches Mirko and bends down to grab the shotgun. With Taavi's efforts to stem the bleeding, the pair of them grab Mirko by the armpits and pull him down the alley to the Saloon's kitchen side door. Talina is left to bring the shell-shocked Judge Lira along behind.

The mob here pivots, turning their full attention on the Sheriff. A farmer wielding a pitchfork charges the porch and takes a rifle blast full in the face, pitching over backwards as Sheriff Skender makes his stand. A volley of fire erupts from the mob - this time with more accuracy. Sheriff Skender's body jolts as four bullets tear through his chest. "Damn..." he says in a pained tone, his last breath escaping him before he drops face first onto the porch. The mob surges forward over his body and into the Office in a wave of outrage. Ping! a light comes on and a noise emits on Lira Bunt's communicator. She blinks at it blankly, unsurprised.

Inside the Saloon...
Báleygr Gangleri eases over to peek out the corner of a window to view the street. Upon seeing the carnage and chaos, he scurries back to his table to collect his belongings. He heads for the back door where Mirko went.

The saloon remains eerily quiet inside. Báleygr slips into the kitchen, spotting a wide-eyed and terrified Zoe standing by the fireplace, afraid to move as gunshots sound outside. A side door leads from the kitchen to the narrow alley that runs between the side of the saloon and the side of Doctor Volokh's office and residence. Peeking through the door, he sees Mirko collapsed on his knees at the mouth of the alley. Taavi and Hansel grab the dying barkeep and drag him forcefully towards the kitchen door, entering where Báleygr stands.

As Hansel enters, he shouts at the top of his voice "Zoe! Ma'am! Are you here?! Your employer needs aid!"

"Oui?" replies Zoe as she is called, then exclaiming as she sees Mirko, "Mon Dieu! No! What can I do?" she exclaims, panicking. "I know nothing of this! Someone wake Monsieur Volokh... But there is no time! Save him, please!" She rushes forward, kneeling on the floor of the kitchen and weeping ineffectually next to Mirko's bleeding body. Mirko moans. He is pale as death. The blood still pulses, weaker, from his wound. He will be dead in moments.

Actions?

Rolls:

Monster vs Grim [1d20+5]=3+5=8 [1d10]=8

Sheriff vs the Mob: [1d20+4]=17+4=21 [1d10+2]=2+2=4
Mob v Sheriff [1d20]=3[1d20]=17[1d20]=15[1d20]=17[1d20]=7[1d20]=17
Mob damage [4d10+8]=26+8=34

[jemmus]

Kneeling by the prone body of the amiable bartender, desperately looks around for any kind of solution. Through the window of the building across the street, he sees a rack like the ones IV bags hang from, as well a lamp with a reflector on a pole. He stands and his body disappears from the kitchen entrance and reappears at the end of the alley, at the corner of the doctor's office. He beats on the wall. Doctor! Doctor! Emergency! Come quick!

Int skill check [2d6+1]=11+1=12

[cybersavant]

Báleygr Gangleri backs up as the others enter. "What's going on outside?"

[Marullus]

Báleygr asks about outside events while Mirko bleeds out at his feet. Zoe looks up at him directly. "He's DYING. Help him!"

[Marullus]

OOC: Healing Rules

Review the Dying rules here. Current difficulty for normal healing with no healing kit is 10. (Taavi missed it with his 9.)

If you're working together, one person makes the test with Heal. Other characters can narrate how they assist (with any skill, not just Heal) and also meet a difficulty of 10. If anyone gets a success on their helping roll, the person rolling the Heal check gets a total of +1 to their result.

[jemmus]

Do chars roll a Healing roll each turn? Or is it a one-time roll?

[Marullus]

Page 53: they will die in "no more than six rounds" and you can reattempt each round. In this scene I'm being pretty liberal with what happens in a Turn (which is functionally a little longer than a normal Round). You can try to heal him this turn and might have at most one more turn before he's gone.

[redwarrior]

Hansel, wishing that he'd paid more attention in the field first aid classes, grabs several towels from the kitchen, and attempts to stop the bleeding as best he can, getting his hands covered in blood, but not doing much else. Where's that doctor? Is there a first aid kit here?

Untrained heal, using dex.
Untrained heal [2d6+2]=5+2=7

[cybersavant]

Báleygr asks about outside events while Mirko bleeds out at his feet. Zoe looks up at him directly. "He's DYING. Help him!"

Báleygr Gangleri gives them room to work. "I do not possess that skillset. Where's the doctor?"

[Marullus]

*bump* That's three days.
We need Shadrach, Amalia, and Emile to state actions at/in the church. Talina can chime in at the 'saving Mirko' scene.

[greyarea]

Lady, I’m not giving you another warning, Emile barks to the handmaiden. If she continues walking away, he will shoot to wound.

Emile Cha+Talk [2d6r2+2]=11+2=13
If she doesn’t comply:
SunShooter [1d20+4]=12+4=16 Damage: [2d6+3]=8+3=11 Range: 50m Magazine: Unlimited
Heh. He’s shooting to wound. Can you strike with the flat of your bullet?

[Enoch]

Shadrach keeps up a volley of steady fire at intervals, letting his barrel drop back to center mass between bursts as the hound whirls around and lunges again.

Burst-fire: [1d20+3]=10+3=13, [1d20+3]=17+3=20, damage [1d12+3]=3+3=6
21 to hit with True Hand, though I doubt it makes a difference.
Grim's Attack: [1d20+1]=14+1=15, damage [1d10]=5

[Marullus]

Ambiance: Fire

Inside the Church...
The monster lets out an eerie keening of its rage, trying to grasp the ephemeral hound with its clawed limbs. The shadowhound leaps again, snarling as it bares its vicious teeth to snap at the tentacles of the otherworldly horror. The monster, however, dodges just at the right moment and instead slashes the incoming hound across its haunch with a razored claw (-1). Shadrach keeps up a volley of steady fire at intervals, letting his barrel drop back to center mass between bursts (-6). From the doorway, Amalia levels her laspistol and fires a steady shot, scorching what is probably the monster's face (-5) Its final roar shortens to a gurgle, then it collapses on the floor.

Shadrach and Amalia spend a moment in silence, hearing the sound of their own breathing. The creature is already beginning to dissolve, tiny runnels of black ink-like tar and the sublimating mist of inky mist rising off it. The floor is still a still lightless pool, the unrippled surface tension perhaps all that separates this world from the next. The body of the docent lies sprawled to the right of it.

BAM! a high-caliber gun fires in the streets above. Amalia feels a snap, a disconnection. The Handmaiden is gone. Grim licks the cut on his side once, experimentally. They both smell smoke.


Outside the Church...
Braaaap! the muffled but unmistakable sound of bust-fire from a combat rifle continues, relentless, from within the church. Another otherworldly roar. The clapboard siding of the church roars with flame, igniting easily, the accelerants making it rush upwards to the roof.

Emile aims at the handmaiden. "We don't need no more violence, we need answers. What happened at that church?" The serene Handmaiden smiles placidly, still walking away calmly, heading towards the boarding house despite the six shooter aimed at her head. "Lady, I’m not giving you another warning", Emile barks to the handmaiden. She continues walking away, undeterred.

BOOM! Emile's wide-bore firearm explodes, a swirl of energy seeming to cascade as the bullet flies forth, passing clean through the Handmaiden's shoulder, an empty circle visible in her pure white church vestments. The Handmaiden turns, just long enough for you to see the placid smile, then disintegrates before your eyes. It is as if she was light held together only loosely, white motes abruptly unbundling and collapsing in a cascading mound on the ground and drifting out in wide arcs on the dusty street before each winks out.

"Ghosts and devils come calling..." murmurs a bearded and balding farmer as he crosses himself against the devil, eyes wide. Sister Anja looks on in horror and screams.

Witnessing this, the dozen men near the church have lost their fervor. They turn and run, scattering north and west around the buildings and towards the edge of town. Their work is done, however - the church roars with flame along this north side and the rear, flames lapping threateningly at the front wall as well. "Sister Amalia... she and her guard are in there..." murmurs Anja to Emile, near a whisper, succumbing to shocked silence once more as she stares at the last motes of light winking out on the ground.

Behind Emile, Main Street is ghostly quiet, the clouds still a ruddy blood red, the sun finally cresting the horizon, peeking over the saloon's roof to the northeast. Four armed men stand guard on the porch of the Sheriff's Office, the corpse of Sheriff Skender kicked unceremoniously off into the dust of the street, movement visible through the windows of the office, others inside.

Inside the Saloon...
Zoe rushes forward, kneeling on the floor of the kitchen and weeping ineffectually next to Mirko's bleeding body. Mirko moans. He is pale as death. The blood still pulses, weaker, from his wound. He will be dead in moments.

Hansel, wishing that he'd paid more attention in the field first aid classes, grabs several towels from the kitchen, and attempts to stop the bleeding as best he can, getting his hands covered in blood, but not doing much else. "Where's that doctor? Is there a first aid kit here?" Talina checks and finds no better supplies, trying to help Hansel to aid the bartender who was one of the few she called friend in this town.

Taavi Perttu desperately looks around for any kind of solution. Through the window of the building across the street, he sees a rack like the ones IV bags hang from, as well a lamp with a reflector on a pole. He stands and his body disappears from the kitchen entrance and reappears at the end of the alley, at the corner of the doctor's office. He beats on the wall. "Doctor! Doctor! Emergency! Come quick!"

Báleygr Gangleri backs up as the others enter. "What's going on outside?" Mirko bleeds out at his feet. Zoe looks up at him directly. "He's DYING. Help him!" Báleygr Gangleri gives them room to work. "I do not possess that skillset. Where's the doctor?"

"Here... pressure on this point, there," says Talina, directing Hansel, her fingers deftly probing the bullet wound. He realizes she knows what she's doing. The pair of them work on the dying man, Báleygr, Lira and Zoe looking on. The pool of blood spreads. Nothing seems to be working. Hansel leans over and checks -- Mirko's nothing. He breaths into Mirko's mouth as Talina thrusts down rhythmically on his chest, pumping his heart with her interlocked hands.

A minute passes. Mirko lies pale, unmoving. Taavi rushes in with a bleary-eyed Doctor Volokh, still in his nightgown. You remember drinking with him until last call... he doesn't look recovered and still reeks of vodka. He snaps open his bag and pulls out a stethoscope, examining the tightly-wound bandages already in place. "You saved him," he smiles softly at Talina and Hansel. "God knows there's no way I am in time. Thanks to you, he lives."

Actions?

Rolls:

I am NPCing Amalia and Talina... I think their courses of action are clear.

Shadow monster v Grim [1d20+5]=10+5=15[1d10]=1
Amalia fires again [1d20+0]=16+0=16 [1d6+1]=4+1=5

"Shoot to wound" is possible - I'm interpreting as in the shoulder. It is a magic firearm against a summoned spiritual being, though, and there's no hope for that.

Talina INT+Heal [2d6+1]=3+1=4

I will one Extra Round of checks, since this turn is covering more time:
Hansel Dex+Heal [2d6+2]=10+2=12
Talina INT+Heal [2d6+1]=9+1=10
That'll do it!

[greyarea]

Come with me, Anja, growls Emile as he races into the church. We have to right something seriously wrong, I fear.