attempt to nonviolently stop and question the man with the sword. If he turns violent on me, bash him off the stairway with my car door riot staff-shield. Then cast stab with my knife-wand and aim for the head.
He doesn't exactly turn violent, he just keeps running at you holding a katana in front of him. Grappling being a poor defense against impalement, you go into combat.
1
+1 vs 2+1
You raise your heavy shield and use the greatshield spell in the nick of time. As it expands to completely hide you from your assailant, you hear two quick slashes score the scrap metal and feel your power draining. (-1 Puissance)
Time to retaliate.
5+1 vs 6+1
Your assailant attempts an ambitious spinning overhead slice, and you catch him off balance with a perfectly timed shield blow. Sending him flying over the handrail, he falls several floors to the bottom, crumpling horribly as he lands. The "crunch" sound echoes up to you milliseconds later.
You could still cast "stab", but it would just be gratuitous. This guy really isn't getting up.
Phew. That took a fair bit of puissance.
Ben takes a moment to swallow the last few bites of sandwich, then raises an eyebrow at the woman while pulling out his P90. "My God, you had a man under there? Just crazy, I can't believe that free love bullshit didn't die off decades ago!" He stabs his knife into the desk and racks his gun, before picking the knife back up and taking aim at the oncoming infantry. "Listen miss, you should find a nice british man to settle down with, not these fucks, last time I fought them they got nuked to hell. And keep your damn pants on while outside your house, it's just common decency!"
Start taking out the oncoming trio with short bursts of SMG fire, while still holding a knife in the bracing arm. If they get close, be prepared to parry and riposte with the knife.
3+
2.5+
1,
6+2.5+1 vs 4+1, 6+1, 5+1
The trio react surprising well to the machine gun fire shattering the glass entrance to the building, separating and ducking behind pillars wherever possible. You manage to hit one in the leg as he rolls into cover, and you get the second two with one burst as they charge through the shattered lobby window, felling them with body blows. Hell, even the way they die is weird: dramatic collapses and lunges like you've never seen. They're pretty dead through, it's fine.
You walk round to where you last saw the injured one, and he's gone. Just vanished somehow. A comprehensive survey suggests he must have run away. Weird. You also have an odd amount of ammo left.
Get back and Head back in, Not to Room 6, to the building in general.
You wander back to the front entrance, pause politely to one side as Ben guns down a pair of attackers with swords. From the look of them, they're either Japanese infantrymen pretending to be in historical dress, or people in really good historical dress pretending to be Japanese infantrymen.
((It probably won't involve taunting, but it will involve yelled abuse.))
Find a stupid katana man and shoot his sword out of this hand with my wand.
You get back to the building and enter, hearing sounds of gunfire. The receptionist looks terrified, Jimmy is wandering in too, and there are two dead guys with katanas on the floor. Neat. Katana get.
Sir Worthington IV (yes, I have to type his full name every time) calms down a bit.
@Katana men: "And who might you be?"
((OOC: I'm actually kind of glad that that situation defused itself. Egan, just so that you know, Sir Worthington IV probably won't attack Ellen on-sight the next time that they meet (unless she taunts him again).))
The katana wielder replies by screaming and lunging at you. Some people are like that.
5 vs 2+1
You twist out the way and into the Recluse's apartment. Your attacker seems not to notice the screaming man on the floor, and swings at you again. You hastily slam the door in his face and jump back.
Nothing happens for several seconds. Then, with the katana wielder nowhere in sight, the door falls of its hinges and the Recluse steps through. He is no longer screaming, and looks at you coldly if a little unsteadily.
"Get. Out. Now. Forever."
Along the corridor between you and the stairwell, guided by the hand of the Recluse, drops of clear liquid trickle out of the air and begin to swirl around and around, faster and faster. When they touch the walls, they fizzle and smoke.
You remember what Vince said about not letting this guy become too powerful?
I honestly feel like that flash did more harm than good. The spell, too. you should've stolen part of the coffin. Oh well, I have Isolation, so I have a fighting chance.
"..What the hell were those katana guys doing here? They must be after the coffin's loot, too..."
Attempt to reason that the katana guys wanted to steal stuff from the coffin, and took things from their apartment. Just say the above for now, though. Approach the katana-wielder, summon two ice cream demons in front of him, and use the tooth spell on the him.
5+2, 1+
1 vs 5+1
You start to summon your two demons, but certain things happen very fast. The man you were talking to in evening dress stops glaring at you but leaps in front of you, moving through the doorway, around you, and into the path of the katana user unbelievably smoothly. Your bloodied beast tooth hits the ceiling, embedding itself there with a thud, and the man holding the sword ducks back, his wrist bloodied. The long nails of the vampire front of you are streaked crimson as well.
Then the katana user just disappears, right as you summon two demons: short, frost-covered sludge creatures with trailing white hair and elongated jaws. They turn slowly towards your recent ally, who evades them by walking in the opposite direction. He licks the blood from his fingers.
"Pah. Magical construct."
This has been slightly embarassing. The vampires evidently haven't made the connection between you and Jimmy, thinking instead that he was allied with the recent assailant. That doesn't stop the two young ones behind you putting you in an armlock and forcing you against the wall. The old one gets right in your face after grabbing your beast bone wand.
"Why are you here? What do you know about these people? Tell us or suffer. I'll know if you're lying."
Goethe T. Helle
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 2
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 2
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £5, clockface minus one hand, highlighter pens, knife
From the beast: one bone, empty molasses jar.
[Dog Collar Pendant][Molasses Clockhand Wand]
[Icecream Beast Blood Fur Chalice][Beast Remains Wand]
Runes:
Isolation: you never had many friends or allies, so are used to poor odds. +1 to rolls when outnumbered and alone.
Stoicism: a rune that calms those dealing with shock, tragedy or injury.
Perseverance: despite all the odds, you managed to kill a huge beast using nothing but hot syrup. Bonus to attack and extra damage to powerful or resistant enemies after several turns of combat or aggression.
Dwarven Weapon Storage: learned from a dwarf carrying a small armoury on his back. Increases load of weapons and tools that can be borne without being hampered or slowed down, or collapsing outright.
Puissant clots: 1
Puissance: 3/6
Name: Ellen York
Has a few teeth embedded in forehead. Blood on face.
Puissant fettle: 1
Runic sight: 1
Banal combat: 1
Agility: 3
Runes:Unending Avarice: you can tell which loot is the most expensive and tradeable instantly, and can grab it as well. Pearls, money, fur coats, expensive champagne, and all things glamourous are magically attracted to your questing fingers.
Wallfish: a rune derived from snails you particularly enjoyed eating with pearls and vinegar. Better at avoiding damage when in or heading for cover.
SS
Inventory: Duct Tape, nettles, crocuses, thorns,
Unrealistic but still useable katana
[Broom] - Roomba wrapped in rusty barbed wire.
[De-thorned Rose Wand]
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 6/6
Name: Sir Worthington the Fourth
Stats: Ritual Potency: 3
Practicality 3
Inventory: £45,
[Glass Eye Pendant] [Paintbrush Wand]
{Financial Toad Demon Mucus}
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 5/5
Jimmy "Car bombs" Castanza
Slightly slowed by a heavy load.
Magical power boosted by Oligarchy rune.
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 3
Banal combat - 1
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 0
Practicality - 3
Inventory: £25, very rusty saw, length of pipe stuck to block of concrete, highlighter pen
Bag of old gold coins
[Lightbulb Antenna Wand]
[Broom] - Bike handles for steering.
Runes:
Detonation: volatile stuff explodes or catches fire more when you're around it. You can't help it, it must be genetic. Written rune used to detonate volatile substances.
Dead Man Running: you escaped the wrath of a mafia boss. Higher chance of surviving things that should really be deadly.
Mafioso: a mafia hitman, you preferred not to let your targets know they were hunted until after they were spread over an area of three hundred metres. Bonus to carefully planned unexpected attacks.
Alchemical (definitely idiot) savant: you saw an alchemist's shop when wandering around London, and deluded yourself that you understood something of how it worked. Because of the nature of magic, this belief is now partially true. Use this rune to make substances a bit more useful or volatile when used in alchemy.
Trader: a rune that when signed signifies to people that you'd be a good guy to buy from and sell things to.
Reticence: a rune whispered to you by birds perched on phone lines, you can get information without giving away much about yourself.
Bethel: a rune that enhances and aids summoning performed where it is written.
Degeneration: you saw men turned into animals. This rune turns advanced things like steel bolts into crappy primitive things, like wooden bolts.
Entrance: a god tried to break into our world. You now have a +2 in breaking into magic places you shouldn't be messing about with.
Hiijacking: Sand crashed a summoning-party and inserted herself into the centre of the ritual. Things with this rune written on will be more central to events and will conduct more power and magical energy than they should by rights.
Hassle: a rune that allows you to deal more effectively with multiple threats, distractions and tasks at once.
Scrap-crafting: after making a wand with bicycle horns, you have improved at making stuff out of junk. And you were already great at making stuff out of junk.
Oligarchy: a rune revealed to you the first time you flew over London, spelled out in the twistings of the financial buildings and the houses of millionares. Increases your power according to how much money you have.
Punctuality: You're good at getting things done on time.
Puissant clots: 2
Puissance:2/5
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 4
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 2
Practicality - 0
Inventory: knife, taser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag
Also a bag of athames, a cooked leg (stored at Vince's place), a worn face-concealing hooded coat.
Four generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
Gunfarmer P90 (45/50) (in bag)
Discarded somewhere tophat and embroidered coat.
Puissant clots: 3
Puissance:5/5
Name: Sir Ritualington
DEAD
Ritual Potency: 3
Agility 3
Inventory: £50
[Wooden Cane Staff] - taken by police.
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance:5/5
Name: Derrick
Slightly slowed by a heavy load
Puissant fettle - 1
Banal combat - 2
Melee - 1
Agility - 1
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £40, scrap metal spike, crate.
[Pocket Knife Wand] [Scrap Metal Shield Staff]
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance:2/6