The Language at the Threshold

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Harold stays with agent Holmes. He is keeping his eyes open especially for Carcosa and McCoy.

[Grognardsw]

Baines says to Reginald, "I will take care of him, you keep an eye for Carcosa! He is the most important target, I am entrusting you with him", Baines runs after the large man to the kitchen.

Baines pushes his way through milling crowd in the bar room (#4), intent on getting the big mulatto. Isaiah follosw behind him. Two BOI agents move with Baines, roughly shoving patrons aside. There is general confusion in the club.

"Everyone remain calm!" yells Agent Garret Holmes. "Stay seated!"

Not many appear to be listening.

As Baines and Isaiah approach the bar, the mulatto exits through the kitchen door. Two agents stays at the bar, which clearly is stocked with illegal liquor in violation of the Volstead Act. The investigators continue the chase. The kitchen looks recently abandoned. The stove is on and still cooking and various light foodstuffs are in varying stages of preparation. There is a back door to the outside (which the investigators know is covered from the outside), a door to the right (into #6), and stairs down into the basement. The mulatto must have gone in one of the three exits, they figure.

BLAM! The sound of a fired gun is heard from out in the club!

Map

Meanwhile...

Reginald and Harold move with Agent Holmes to the right, into the music rooms (#1 & 2). The crowds are a little more under control here. The jazz band isn't playing and the stage is crowded with people trying to leave out the back door, which the investigators know is covered from the outside. A few more waitresses are rounded up. Some agents are in fisticuffs with patrons. Agent Holmes snaps orders as he rounds through the stage room into the northeast bar room (#3), followed by Reginald and Harold.

A gun shot is fired! It comes close to Agent Holmes, who kneels down behind a table. It seems it came from one of the far booths in the north wall. (The investigators are at where the number 3 is on the map.)

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Harold dives for cover behind the tables. He upends the one closest so that the top is between him and the booths. The table top might not stop bullets, but it will hide him. He ducks down low and peeks from the bottom corner of the table at the booths. His gun is ready if he can just see which booth the shot came from.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reg also dives behind an upturned table. He'll poke his head around the table for a split second to see which booth the shot came from.

[Grognardsw]

Reginald and Harold dive behind the same upended table. Agent Holmes is behind another.

They peek over the table hoping to see where the shot came from. They spy a black man in the last booth to the left with a pistol, who is partially covered behind the booth wall. He appears to be alone but it can't be said for sure.

The club patrons in this room are low to the floor, fleeing toward the front door.

There are shouts - one from the bar, another from the stage area - that Reginald and Harold recognize are the language Timothy Carver spoke. In the confusion they can't make out who yelled.

[thesniperknight1]

Baines is startled by the shot and he docks under a kitchen counter as a reflex but he keeps his composure, he looks to the agent following him, "You, go assist them, looks like they need more help than we do".

Baines turns to Isaiah, "The agents have the alley covered, so he he must have went either to the basement or that room (room #6), we need to split up before that man destroys evidence or escape somehow", he lightly pushes Isaiah towards the direction of the room and heads down the stares, "Be careful buddy".

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald tries to keep his cool amidst the chaos of the scene around him. When he hears the mysterious language again, he feels the familiar combination of fear, excitement, and horror.

He looks at his friend Harold. To Harold and Agent Holmes he says,"We can't stay here. There's another one of them at the bar to the west, and a third at the stage to the east. We're pinned down here. Harold and I will go for the one at the bar, Agent Holmes you lay down some cover and then go for the one at the stage. Meet me in the basement."

If the agent complies, Reg will make for the bar as fast as he reasonably can.

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Harold joins Reg's direction and speed.

OOC: Quick question for Socratic Lawyer. Is Reg's plan 1) to go straight for the one at the bar and go over the bar to get him or 2) is it to go around the end of the bar and come up at him that way?

[Grognardsw]

Agent Holmes listens to Reginald. "I want to go get down the basement." He yells for two BOI agents to go to the stage. "Okay let's make for the bar."

Holmes fires his gun at the booth as the three of them run for the bar. The BOI agent's aim is true as someone in the far booth yells out in pain and is then silent. The three reach the bar and see a deep black man, perhaps African, holding a satchel and running for the kitchen door.





In the kitchen, Isaiah considers whether to go in through the north door (into room #6) as Agent Baines suggested, while Baines says he will go down the stairs.

- Baines/Isaiah are four rounds ahead of Reginald/Harold in time. I may break the two groups into private forums depending on how things go.
- Holmes gun (75) with minus for booth coverage [1d100] = 26 Hits
- Holmes gun damage [1d10] = 7 7 to unknown assailant
- Unknown assailant Con check for shock (12) [1d20] = 19 Fail! Falls unconscious. If one takes more than half your HP damage in a single wound, must make this Shock roll.

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Harold takes aim and fires his handgun twice at the fleeing black man.

(20) on a [1d100] = 80 Absolute miss.
(20) on a [1d100] = 45 Closer but not close enough.

Though he knows there are agents outside the door, he also knows that they could have been killed or otherwise removed. He keeps running.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald also fires at the suspect.

Shotgun (club Z bar) (50) [1d100] = 69

Shotgun at Club Z bar (50) [1d100] = 68

Yikes!
Reg also continues the chase.

[Grognardsw]

Reginald and Harold shoot up the bar,

the shotgun pellets and pistol bullets shattering glasses, bottles and wood. People are screaming. The black man flees into the kitchen.

[Fulci]

Isaiah Bartlett, wise old man

"Stop!" he calls after Baines. "Let's wait for back-up. Don't go down alone. They know the place better than us, it might be a trap! If there are no exits from the basement, they won't get away."

He cautiously takes a glance through the door to room #6.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Cursing himself for not practicing more with his shotgun, Reginald follows Agent Holmes into the kitchen. That is, assuming Holmes takes the lead. He continues to chase the black man.

Hopefully Reg can get his shotgun firing skills above Storm Trooper level at some point!

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

I think Harold and Reg will be looking for a practice range once this is done.

Harold continues the chase, wishing he had made a chemical mix of something slick he could throw at this man's feet!

[thesniperknight1]

Baines stops, "This is a raid, anything can go wrong but speed is the most important thing here, we need to cover as much ground as fast as possible", he descends down the stairs for the basement.

[Grognardsw]

Reginald and Harold race after the black man who runs into the kitchen. The investigators follow, with Agent Garrett ten feet behind them.

Inside the kitchen they come upon a startling sight. A heavily wounded, staggering and babbling Agent Baines is drawing his gun on Isaiah Bartlett, who has a shotgun aimed at Baines. It looks like Isaiah is about to pull the trigger!

The black man continues running down the stairs to the basement.

[SocraticLawyer]

Reginald Wilkins, bookdealer
Reginald does not want to let their prey escape to the basement. He also doesn't want to turn his back on the two investigators that appear to be attacking each other.

He fires at the fleeing black man again. If either Baines or Isaiah turns a weapon on Reg, he will fire back.

Shotgun at fleeing black man again (50) [1d100] = 48

[FrankL]

Harold Matthers

Seeing that Reg made his shot, Harold looks at the Baines and Bartlett. Neither looks good, but Baines looks very bad. He would like to convince both of them to stand down, but that looks unlikely. Even if he persuaded Isaiah to lower his weapon, Baines would still be armed and dangerous. Harold quickly looks over Baines using his psychology skill (he had to take it in his graduate studies).

Psychology on Baines (51) [1d100] = 36

Even so, he stands where he can see both investigators and the black man. If either investigator draws on him or Reg, Harold will return fire.

[Grognardsw]

Harold recognizes derangement in the wild-eyed Agent Baines, who mutters the pseudo-language of Carver as he draws his gun on Isaiah. Isaiah reluctantly shoots the second barrel of his shot gun, hitting Baines (5 HP damage) who falls back dead in a splatter of blood and guts.

Reginald stays on the tail of the fleeing black man. As the pursued barrells down the stairs, Reginald gets off a shot of his gun. It hits! (2 HP.) The black man yells, falls down the rest of the stairs, and staggers on.

Agent Garrett and three more agents burst through into the kitchen. "Baines?!" exclaims Garrett, pausing to look at the dead body. He motions the agents to continue down into the basement, following Reginald. Then he glances at Isaiah. "What the hell happened here?"

- Isaiah shotgun to Baines (60% due to point blank) [1d100] = 19, dam. [2d6] = 5 Dead
- Reginald gun damage [1d10] = 2