Call my Coven friends (any other PCs that want to come help me out) in for support before going in (wait for them to join me first at a nearby cafe or something first, of course).
Anybody up for some ghost-busting/negotiating?
Enter the building. Tell the spirit that I know that it can hear me, and that I'd like to come to some sort of a non-violent (between us, at least) arrangement. Perhaps we can work together...
Does my demonic leg know any kung-fu moves (or something similar), by any chance? Can I talk to it (and get a response back)? Just wondering.
You buy a coffee in a nearby cafe, and sit around calling people. Vince doesn't seem interested in chasing random spirits, and nobody else responds.
You try a few kicks in the parking lot. The leg lashes out with frightening, almost inhuman speed, and is far stronger and bendier than an octogenarian's limb has any right to be. The first kick slams into the stomach of an imaginary assailant, lifting him off the ground. The second back kick slams through his jaw, jerking his neck back. The third scissor kick goes too close to the wall and smashes a smoke detector into smithereens without setting anything off. Evil leg, right. You clear away anything that looks particularly flammable, just in case.
Anyway, looks like you're going in alone. You stride into the building site after a sharp kick to the gate hinges, Sen scurrying behind you complaining and asking to turn back. You see nothing, but the whistling of the wind and the creaking of the scaffold rises into a voice.
"Why come here, hellssssspawn? Now you dissssturb me, it was not enough to take my sssservant? Perhapssss you seek gold... you will be disssapointed."
Always with the names. Anyway, you break into the spiel about cooperation. The voice seems unamused, and even more crocodile-y.
"I can get ssssservants anywhere. Ssssssurely a witch does not want gold, but power? Besssssidessss, there isss the little matter of Ssssen. Perhapssss we can discussss cooperation after you compensssate for what you sssstole... What do you ssssay? Will you do sssssomething for me?"
You can sense the thing getting angry. You're vaguely aware of an incorporeal presence focused somewhere over to your right, but you take care not to look in that direction.
I will take the zweihander then look into the tunnel with the black cable
The gold zweihander is punishingly heavy, but you rest it over your shoulder, and move a few paces down the tunnel. There are sparse lights, green and gold flames illuminating rough earth walls, coming from clear phials of burning liquid left every dozen metres. The cables continue as the tunnel goes upwards. You notice a lot of dead bugs by the entrance, burrowing ones.
You go down the tunnel about a hundred metres, the floor rising sharply. You press yourself to the side when you reach a basement. In the centre of the room is a massive and complex alchemical apparatus, the cables disappearing into it. Massive lines of power radiate from it, as liquids bubble and fizz, storing incredible amounts of energy. You feel your own meagre magical power flare up in response. There is one door, not locked, leading out the basement.
Guessing that the bag of weapons is still near me? Grab the P90 and roll over to where I'm behind cover with the rock. Think loudly "IF THIS ROCK DOESN'T GET OUT OF MY HEAD I'LL SMASH IT WITH BULLETS." If that doesn't seem to intimidate it, empty the P90's magazine into the rock point-blank.
Shoot bones at the rock until something happens. Damn this thing kind of sucks against non organics.
Guessing that the bag of weapons is still near me? Grab the P90 and roll over to where I'm behind cover with the rock. Think loudly "IF THIS ROCK DOESN'T GET OUT OF MY HEAD I'LL SMASH IT WITH BULLETS." If that doesn't seem to intimidate it, empty the P90's magazine into the rock point-blank.
D:
Nanami will cast a spell to magnify her voice, and shout that the spell she cast will kill the rock in short order if she does not stop it. Even if she dies, the spell is out of her hands now--if she doesn't specifically counter it, the rock will die (I don't know or care whether this is a lie).
If the rock wants the spell to stop, it should have its minions stop firing immediately, and come out into the courtyard, in full view of Nanami and her team. Then they can negotiate.
Ben will stay silent and still, listening carefully while he collects himself. He might test his bindings a bit, if he's clearheaded enough, but will avoid doing anything obvious.
Nanami yells threats at the rock, but intermittent potshots are still being taken at the witches. The voice magnification thing isn't possible with her abilities, yet. Ben tests his restraints, working out that he could probably escape in about a minute.
Zamenis fires more bones at the rock, and is rewarded with what may be a crack. The lights glimmer where he hit, before fading a little.
Bella meanwhile walks the path of maximum resistance, and pulls the P90 out of Ben's sports bag. Not bothering to aim at something right next to her, she squeezes the trigger.
Banal Combat: 4+1
Emptying the entire clip into the rock two feet away, she somehow contrives not to get hit by rebounding bullets, break her arm from the recoil, or shoot herself in the foot. In fact, she manages to hit the largest crack-head on with the first burst of gunfire. The lights on the meteor flare brilliantly, almost blindingly, and then fade as the hard outer layer is torn away and then inner, oddly honeycombed part is shredded by elegant gunfarmer technology.
In a final explosion of harmless light, the rock glows a brilliant blue all over, and then becomes completely inert.
The gunfire stops.
Everybody is aware of a disagreeable mental presence now gone from the edges of their perception.
The mind-control drug wears off, and Ben makes a mental note to invest in a tinfoil helmet.
Everyone present gets a puissant clot. Bella gets three, for the kill.
And a voice only Nanami can hear says, "not terrible."
Bob Howard
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 1
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Practicality - 3
Inventory: £50, 1d20
{Certificate from Belial; Valid for one Potent Medium}
Puissance: 5/5
Puissant Clots: 2
Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Unnatural beauty granted by demonic contract and the adoration of mortals. Slight charisma/popularity boost.
Power from mortal media.
Conscripted into twenty-nineth legion of Amdukias.
Puissance: 2
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 0
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 1
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 2
Inventory: £315
Backpack, expensive camera + memory cards
Quality sketching paper, art pens+pencils, charcoal, etc.
Sketches of self as main character, Amdukias, the non-mortal world, etc.
[Glass Rod Crystal Wand] - Enhanced slightly through media
Mediocre Pistol (4/6)
Puissance: 9/9
Puissant Clots: 2
Goethe T. Helle
Puissant fettle - 1
Ritual potency - 2
Runic sight - 1
Banal combat - 0
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 2
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £20, clockface minus one hand, highlighter pens, two kitchen knives, half-empty cologne bottle
From the beast: one bone,
Italian Dinner suit, stored at Vince's place.
[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.
Ruination: when written, it makes a bad situation worse, and an irretrievable one more so. Learned after the second mission.
Puissant clots: 1
Puissance: 5/6
Name: Sir Worthington the Fourth
Has a demonic leg. Old leg is in possession of monarchs of hell.
Enslaved young man under demonic contract, wields katana, wears combat pants + green sweatshirt.
Stats: Ritual Potency: 3
Practicality 3
Inventory: £25, Pint of royal blood (stored at Vince's), blood covered knife, Cursed String
Stored at Vince's place: mortal's tendons, skull and leg bones.
[Glass Eye Pendant] [Paintbrush Wand]
[Toad Demon Battery Acid Tupperware Chalice]
{Scuttle Gem}
Amateur's Pyromancy Flame - Heal Burn (1P), Create Flame (1P), Flame Claw (3P)
Puissant Clots: 0
Puissance: 5/5
Jimmy "Car bombs" Castanza
Slightly slowed by a heavy load.
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 3
Banal combat - 1
Aim - 1
Melee - 0
Agility - 0
Practicality - 3
Inventory: £20, very rusty saw, length of pipe stuck to block of concrete, highlighter pen
[Lightbulb Antenna Wand]
[Broom - TIER 3] - Bike handles for steering.
[Omni-tool]
Milk Bottle full of space-warping venom.
Glock 17 (7/10)
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: 1
Puissance:5/5
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, currently on ground near Bella.
Also a bag of athames, 2.5 legs War Bacon (Vince's Fridge), a worn face-concealing hooded coat, bin bags.
Two generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
£20
Set of keys and passcard
Gunfarmer P90 (0/50) (in bag) (confiscated by Bella)
Puissant clots: 4
Puissance:5/5
Steve
Banal combat - 3
Agility - 3
Inventory: £50
Solid Gold Zweihander - slowing him down.
Puissance: 5/5, temporarily 9/9 due to proximity to power.
Clots:3
Name: Bella, the Speed Witch
Runic sight: 2
Banal Combat: 1
Melee 1
Agility 2
Inventory: £0,
Delicate Rune-engraved Machete: heavy bonus when facing multiple weaker victims. Likely to break on misshits/heavy armour.
[Tier Two Racing Broom]
Runes:
Speed lover: +1 to doing anything while moving faster than you need to. Does not prevent (but can negate) maluses from trying to do things while moving faster than is sensible.
Slaughter: enhances speed and efficiency of murder when facing many opponents/victims. Passive boost, but can be written on things.
Broom Dodging: makes you better at dodging things while on a broom.
Puissance: 5/5
Clots:3
Name: Aisha Kassem
Ritual - 1
Runic sight - 2
Practicality - 3
Runes
Intoxication: a rune that can be muttered over an alchemical procedure, bring out the hallucinogenic and mood-altering qualities of the product.
Improvisation: passive, improves lab work/alchemy in unusual conditions, using odd or dubious ingredients or tools.
Griffon Roar: makes something or someone more intimidating and more visible when written.
Biotechnical: passive rune, boost to integrating organics with technology.
Psychologist: a rune letting you see people's motivations, triggers, interests, personalities, etc. more clearly.
Inventory: £43, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Cheap backpack, four bottles:
River water, crocuses, rose petals, peonies, blades of grass, stagnant pond water, sticks, charcoal, rain water.
Also three cans, six lengths of rubber tubing, two copper pipes, a broken coffee machine, a mostly empty lighter and a teapot.
One rubber tubing, copper pipe, teapot and coffee machine set up as Distillator in Vince's garage.
{Potion of fleshly regeneration - One Dose}
Puissant Clots: 2
Puissance: 5/5
Name: Zamenis Paean
Puissant fettle: 3
Agility: 2
Aim: 1
Inventory: £5, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Duct tape, Large Knife
Surgical tools: scalpel, a first aid kit, a saw, and tweezers.
[Tier 1 Broom, knife on end]
[Human Leg Wand]
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 14/14
So, this will be weekly from now on due to my studies and laziness. In light of this, I will try to resolve things much faster, and feel free to do more in each post.
Author
Topic: COVEN: Gulled Goldsmiths and Lost Locomotives (Read 154149 times)