This might be a good time to put the clot on my broom and finally upgrade it to Tier 4. Fly to somewhere safer, but nearby enough that we can see and attack the worm from a distance without being on it's reach (the whole ground, so find a medium or tall building). Contact Don Joe and inform him of our situation and location, he might be able to help.
If I am far enough to not be attacked by the worm, try shooting it in the head with multiple flesh-removing spells. I have a lot of Puissance so I can just spam this spell from a safe and high spot until it dies.
You upgrade the broom to tier four. It doesn't get better than this. Well, it does, but you'd have to invent your own magical transport.
Don gets your call, I assume. Neither he nor Jane seem to be doing much. You fly high above the worm, and start peppering away with magical projectiles.
The flesh-removing spell doesn't do anything to the mechanical worm. No flesh as such. That's probably it.
Rent the car for two days, then. After that, head to the magic market and buy a magical fire gem. (about £1000.) I want to insert a clot and work it into a fabric loop for a ring, and then tie it to the car, somewhere unobtrusive like inside the glove box.
I also want to experiment with the ablative crystal armour stuff, and practice applying it to the outside of the car, as well as keeping an illusion on it to hide the obviously magical effect. Can I make the crystals grow on the outside of the car even when I'm inside it? Or do I need to apply it from the outside first?
Someone like that shaman might be good for camerawork, too, as it would be handy to have someone who can see magical stuff be contolling the camera. Ask him if he'd be interested in a little part-time work like that some time in the future, and if so, exchange phone numbers.
You rent the car. Money up front.
The market is bustling as ever, but you don't have time to gawk at the stalls. Instead, you go straight for one of the gem sellers, and purchase a fire gem. Tying it to a hair band and making a ring from it doesn't make it look any different, but you can sense the power emanating from it. The car will be fire resistant, but the people inside it won't, so make sure to wind up those windows.
The crystals can be grown from inside the car. They take on a reddish hue, perhaps due to the fire gem inside.
You get the shaman's phone number, but he doesn't seem too keen. More of an occult investigator than a front-lines guy.
Ben sighs wistfully as he looks at the Challenger 2 from a distance. He runs a finger along the hilt of a knife as he mumbles to himself "Been too long since I hijacked a tank... no, no, that always ends badly."
Ben stops and considers himself. Does he look even passably military, or perhaps like a spook? Undercover? Undercover would work.
If he feels he could pull it off, walk right up to the most islolated armored vehicle he can see, give a friendly (if hurried) wave, and tell the crew honestly what's going on. There was a train hijacked by some crazies, and he's veteran spec ops; he was just now tasked with taking it out. If they don't have an important task, they really should give him transport and support, now. Lives could be at stake, good soldiers would go help! Ben truly believes all this, so it's not lying.
...Try not to attack them if it's at all avoidable. If they attack him, or try to detain him, he'll defend himself, but he doesn't want to kill good soldiers of a good country. Better to just retreat and come up with another plan.
Edit for clarity: Ben is asking the soldiers to let him ride with them, and possibly provide fire support. He doesn't think he can catch up to a train on foot, and whoever's in it might be armed; the train might also be able to be disabled without harming any occupants by a high caliber MG, which he does not have, but which most armored vehicles do. He is not asking to take the soldiers' vehicle away from them--that's a cruel request for any crew, their personal murdermachine is their life, unfairly stealing it from them is the work of asshole officers!
Funnily enough, convincing people that you're telling the truth can be just as difficult when you really think you are. Nonetheless, largely because they refuse to believe that someone wearing two machine weapons could stride right
Prac:
6The soldiers believe you about the special ops stuff. Boy, do they believe you. Actually, their response is a little over the top. Soldiers in the UK military rarely see combat, and when they do, it's nothing on the order of a massive explosion and hundreds of casualties. So everyone around you is a little more on edge than they should be.
To cut a long story short, Ben is briefly swept up in the brisk pace of military organisation, and finds himself riding a tank, alongside a dozen infantry packed into various vehicles, with an attack helicopter following overhead. The troops with him seem to have mostly picked up on the "armed lunatics" aspect, rather than the "do not destroy the train" one.
Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Unnatural beauty granted by demonic contract and the adoration of mortals. Slight charisma/popularity boost.
Power from mortal media.
Can create illusions.
Well-dressed, if it matters.
Conscripted into twenty-nineth legion of Amdukias.
Puissance: 2 +1 not from Amdukias
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 1
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 1
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 3
Inventory: £2250
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.
[Tier Two Glass Rod Crystal Wand] - Enhanced slightly through media
Large, fist-sized mind-controlling spacerock fragments.
Painting supplies, a glass cutter, battery powdered soldering iron, eighty feet of red cloth, white rag and thread
Diving gear: masks, suits and some scuba tanks. (dumped)
Knife
Hired Armoured Car with Fire-Resistant Ring
Runes
Pestilence: all living things will someday die. This rune accelerates the processes of death with the energies of life - a draining and a consumption at once.
Puissance: 13/13
Puissant Clots: 2
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 6
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 3
Practicality - 0
Inventory: 2xtaser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag.
4 Athames, 2.5 legs War Bacon (Vince's Fridge), a worn face-concealing hooded coat, bin bags.
Concealed: knife in one boot, knife on a leg, and one on his torso.
Two generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
Two bin bags of assorted pills from pharmacy (Vince's fridge).
£20
Set of keys and passcard
Gunfarmer P90 (50/50) (in bag)
FN Minimi light machine gun, 200-round belt, (59/200) round belt
Gunfarmer's Silenced MK-23 Pistol 12/12
Puissant clots: 7
Puissance:5/5
Name: Zamenis Paean
Puissant fettle: 3
Agility: 3
Aim: 3
LICH: feeds on the bleeding hearts of his enemies.
Undead. Necromancy bonus.
Heavily Charred, not that it matters to you. But you look like you've spent the night on a live barbecue grill.
Respined and very slightly shorter.
Capable of creating: Basic shambling undead, higher undead with power source
Inventory: £1, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Large Knife, knife.
Surgical tools: scalpel, a saw, and tweezers.
A length of shimmering, crystalline rope,
{Extremely Strong Sleep Potion}
Dragon Tooth Phylactery on [Tier Three Steel Mop Broom]
[Human Leg Wand]
[Ulna and Hand Wand]
Lightning Longsword
Human spine caduceus
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 14/14
Name: Don Joe
Back covered in bone casing, small spikes
Ritual Strength - 2
Runic Sight - 1
Puissance - 1
Aim - 2
Agility - 1
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £2600
Card of Mortal-mind cleanup guy
[Chain Coin Pendant]
[Giraffe Wine Chalice]
[Venom Blood Syringe Chalice]
Simple Knife
Five bone spikes
Gunfarmer's Browning 9-mm 13/13
6x Polycarbon Body Armour
6x Divinely Enhanced Riot Shield
Runes
Market Savvy: You know what things are worth, and who will pay for or try to get them. From your time spent as a banker, a passive rune.
Acid: a rune that eats into whatever it touches.
Nebula: a rune that glows brilliantly, written in brilliant points of light. Can be written on the sky itself to send messages through the stars.
Carnage: paint this on something, and increase the likelihood of large numbers of people being killed or maimed near it. How on earth could you have picked up such a rune?
Puissance: 6/6
Puissant Clots: 1
[spoiler=it's the cycle of life]
Name: Jane Zisigin
[Heeded by Deep Ones]
Puissant fettle: 2
Runic Sight: 1
Aim: 3
Inventory: [Tier Two Deodorant Stick Wand]
£50
Bag of living scrap metal
Samples of: Human blood, Roses, Rotten Food
Transworld Entertainment Card
Runes
Megafauna: the first magical creature Jane really saw was a demonic rhinoceros trampling the broken bodies of her parents. This rune gives a passive awareness of nearby massive beasts, and will attract them when written.
Waif: boost to stealth when alone.
Muster: a rune that aids you in hiring or recruiting people to your cause, especially combatants.
Clots:1
Puissance: 9/9