Briar looked around the smoky room for something the use as an anchor, the desk in here was too big, the beds were even worse, cabinet would be too heavy to move, the desk chair might do the trick.
"Rob, grab the chair and follow me!" Briar yelled as he started to make his way out of the room, coiling his makeshift loop of rope around his right hand to make a set of cloth knuckles.
Robert grunted and grabbed the heavy chair, hoisting it up and followed Briar as soon as he had it balanced.
[Building Structure [Threshold 50] 60 (margin -10: Failure)] (Threshold reduced by 10 next round)
The building groaned as the fire claimed one the support pillars for good, sending cracks and debris spinning through the rest of the building. Briar and Robert staggered as the floor shifted beneath them, settling grudgingly to slant towards the north-eastern front of the building.
"Run damnit!" Briar yelled at Robert as he threw of his own shock and not having been killed. Robert needed no second urging, sprinting off with Briar down the hall as fast as he could and keep a grip on the chair. A couple other students joined them in their dash for the window, the fact that the building was collapsing had probably spurred many of them to take action where they hadn't dared before.
Briar punched out the window with his cloth gauntleted hand the instant it was within striking distance, sending shards of glass spinning down onto the grass below. As soon as he had the sill cleared of any pieces of glass he unspooled the makeshift rope from his hand and looped it through the chair that Robert held, fastening it as securely as he knew how.
As soon as Briar had it tied off Robert slammed the chair into the window, lodging it firmly between the two sides of the frame.
"Alright, I'm going down first. As soon as I'm on the ground you can follow." Robert said as he checked to make sure the chair would stay secured in the window.
"Like hell you are," Briar replied
"I tied the knots in this rope, I'm going down first to make sure they hold." "You sure?" "Of course I'm sure, are you actually going to argue this in the middle of a burning building?!" Briar half-yelled in frustration.
"Hold my book, toss it down to me when I get to the bottom. Don't Lose it!" He said as he handed the old tome to Robert and hauled himself up onto the lip of the window.
"See you on the ground, okay?" Robert took the book and nodded grimly as Briar took hold of the end of the rope and stepped off the window.
[Rope integrity [Threshold 50-58=-8] 99 (Margin -107)] The knots that Briar tied were not solid, and as soon as he trusted his full weight to the rope of bedsheets it failed completely, unraveling from the chair and sending Briar plunging into a freefall. [Athletics 44 (margin -54 Complete failure)] (54x2 108 damage) Briar hit the ground on his side, his vision darkening to black as the impact replaced the air in his lungs with blood. Strangely there was no pain; he felt surprise, confusion, and a strange feeling like all of his bones were in the wrong place, but no pain. [Save Vs. Death 11 (Margin -1) Vedict: Knife-edge Survival] Gurgling for breath Briar clawed feebily at the grass, struggling vainly to rise even as his body failed to respond to his beleaguered mind's commands.
That battle however lasted only minutes before Briar's thoughts faded away into vague musings of color and light, taking with them what little consciousness he had left.
((Briar has been rendered critically unconscious))
Survival Roll for Robert: [Robert Solve enigma 72 (margin -32, Total Failure)] [Athletics 6 (margin 14)] Robert survives by jumping out the window.
((Your introduction is finished))
---~~~---
Clay stood fast even as the building groaned and rumbled in front of him, priming the extinguisher to spray and clear out some of this fire. [Solve enigma 93 (Margin -27 Failure)] There wasn't a lot he could do with just his little bitty extinguisher but he had to try. [Auto-hit, target can't dodge][Effectiveness [Threshold 50+15 intelligence] 43 (Margin 22: Success)]
Clay sprayed everything on fire that he can reach from the door, taking it cautiously forwards one step at a time. Ten steps in he stopped when the building groaned ominously around him. The fire in the immediate area was as far in check as he could make it without endangering himself, but he still hadn't really helped anyone...
The SE stairwell was tantalizingly close and Clay didn't think getting in would be a problem, it was getting back out again that would impose difficulties. Staying down here was useless, he simply couldn't extinguish the entire building as fast as the fire was spreading. Going up the stairs might give him the opportunity to help, but that was assuming it didn't kill him first or trap him under burning debris.
Perhaps if he survived this he could write a textbook on what to actually do in a disaster.
Location: SW entrance to the Dorms
Status Affects: None
Health: 50/50 (30 non-lethal damage taken -fatigue-)
Sanity: 50/50
Head: Hair (No spots)
Body: Dress shirt (1 V.Small), Greatcoat (2 medium, 4 small, 4 V.Small, 2 pounds)
Legs: Brown slacks (2 Small)
Feet: Brown Shoes (No Spots)
L. Hand: Brass fire extinguisher (30/35 35lbs)
R. Hand: Brass fire extinguisher (30/35 35lbs)
Other Worn items:
Wedding Band
Carried Weight: 37/35 (Encumbered)
Available Spots: 3 Very Small, 5 Small, 2 medium, both hands
Inv:
Silver Pocket Watch (V.Small Coat pocket)
Pen (V.Small Dress shirt pocket)
Wallet (Small, slacks pocket, contains $100 in small bills)
You're standing in front of the SW entrance to the dorms, the lock on the door has been broken off. The NE, E, W parts of the building are completely in flame, the SE and NW are partially in flame, the SW is smoldering.
There is a lot of smoke inside the building.
You can make it to the SW stairwell.
---~~~---
David nodded to Angie and she smiled back gratefully as she left the bar, leaving David to finish his glass and muse for a moment before following. Springing lose an asset from a Trade controlled business would be... difficult. Not impossible for him to do, but it would certainly raise a few problems.
Many more so if they managed to get his name out of this little caper.
Draining his glass David rose and thanked the barman before straightening his trenchcoat on his shoulders. He'd drunk, he'd talked to a beautiful dame, he was going to leave. Hopefully the fact that he hadn't actually engaged any of the women wouldn't seem too unusual. Tucking his hat down over his face David walked unhurriedly to the side exit, keeping his eyes as lecherous and roving as any of the patrons.
No one stopped him and he twisted open the side door without incident, leaving the dancing saint and entering a closed store that apparently sold... scarves. Scarves that looked a great deal like the ones the dancers wore. Heh, engage a dancer on the way back from a hard day at the grind and buy your wife a scarf exactly like the one you saw on the dancer on the same trip. Life was funny like that.
David made his way to the back, pushing through the numerous fuzzy strips of fabric that adorned the moonlit shop and stepping quietly through the door to the outside.
It took David's eyes a couple seconds to adjust to the moonlight, the dark alley not resolving into discrete shapes until several blinks later. Angie was standing farther down the alley at the backdoor of the dancing saint itself. She was still clad lightly, though she had at least added a rather shear full length garment to cover her otherwise scant attire. As David approached her attention seemed fixed on a point out to the west, and even when David was within arms reach she didn't take her eyes of that point.
"Are you all right?" He ask softly when he drew close.
When he spoke Angie twisted to favor him with a cold look of mild chagrin. Not at all what he'd been expecting.
"I'm sorry, I'd have liked to let this play out, but you are no longer my most pressing concern." She said in a hard tone that David hadn't heard her use before.
[Surprise attack negated through perk: Danger sense. Bonus added to first dodge and attack roll] At that point the hairs on David's neck that indicated immediate danger prickled strongly, giving enough time to let him see Angie's muscles tense before she threw the first punch.
[Lenore Melee 52 (margin
Vs David Dodge 6-20 (Margin 43)]
[David Melee 80-20-17 (margin -44) Vs Lenore Dodge 2 (margin 58)]
[Lenore Melee 68-52 (margin 54) Vs David Dodge 88 (margin -65)
[Lenore melee 8-119 (margin 171) Vs David Endure 99 (margin -109)]
((171+109*0.25 = 70 damage -nonlethal))
David is knocked unconscious
David skipped backwards in surprise just in time to avoid her first blow, jumping forwards again to deliver a clumsy and heavy handed counterblow. Angie batted it aside and twisted to grab a fistful of David's dark hair in one hand, swinging him around and using the momentum from his own punch to drive his head into the brick wall of the Dancing saint.
"Sorry love," Angie said when David was sprawled beneath her in a heap
"I just don't have the time to talk right now." Angie cast another concerned look at the point to the west and grabbed David's right arm, tugging him upright into a fireman's carry and hauling him back inside the Dancing Saint.
Location: ???
Status Affects: None
Health: Base 50/50 (70 nonlethal, unconscious)
Sanity: Base 45/45
Head: Fedora (No spots)
Body: Dress shirt (1 V.Small), Trenchcoat (2 medium, 2 small), Concealed Shoulder holster (1 small)
Legs: Black Suspenders (2 Small)
Feet: Black Shoes (No Spots)
L. Hand: Glass of excellent quality moonshine, quarter-full.
R. Hand: Empty
Other Worn items:
None
Carried Weight: 3/45
Available Spots: 1 V.Small, 2 Medium, both hands
Inv:
Pocket Watch (V.Small pants pocket)
Pen (V.Small coat pocket)
notepad (V.Small coat pocket)
Wallet (Small, pants pocket, contains $30 in small bills)
Colt detective special (6/6, Small, Shoulder holster, 2 pounds)
Loose .38 special rounds (13, small, coat pocket)
Loose ItemsUnsearched, All have owners nearby
Closed containersUnknown, Multiple, all have owners nearby.
---~~~---
Patric tried to smile in a way that would inspire confidence as he reached for the ring and the envelope of money on the table.
"Got it, bo-" Patric was able to get out before Tragedy brought a letter opener down on his hand.
[Tragedy melee 45-25 -surprise- (margin 80) Vs Patric Dodge 1 (Margin 19)]
[Tragedy meleel 48-30 (margin 82) Vs Patric Endure 65 (margin -15)] ((Damage constrained, 5 HP damage and cripple))
The diminutive cruciform blade punched a hole through Patric's hand, traveling down through the cash filled envelope and embedding itself deeply into the wood of the desk below.
"I told you!" Tragedy hissed, his face inches away from Patric's.
"You will never use that voice around me, I made it clear! Yet you disobey..." Tragedy twisted the letter opener in the desk, send jolts of pain up Patric's hand.
"I forgive once, but never twice. The next time you disobey this most simple of requests I will gouge out one of your eyes. Clear?" Patric groaned slightly in pain but nodded once in acceptance.
"Good." Tragedy said, wrenching the letter opener back out of the desk and out of Patric's hand.
"Now get out, you're getting blood everywhere." Patric didn't need a second request to gather his things, slipping the ring on so his wounded hand was free to hang limp while his left hand held his now bloody and perforated envelope. He left the room quickly, taking the stairs as quickly as he could without jostling his impaled hand. Goddamn crazy bastard... The job may come with a lot of benefits, but Tragedy wasn't one of them. Stuffing the envelop back down into his pocket Patric pulled his handkerchief out of his suit. Growling darkly as he wiped the blood off his hands and wrapped the cloth into a simple bandage for his right hand. It wasn't good to be seen as wounded when you were on the floor.
((You will finish your shift and be done with this introduction if you have no further actions)) (And assuming no special events occur.)
Location: Back Rooms of the Dancing Saint
Status Affects: None
Health: 70/75 -Temporarily Crippled Right hand-
Sanity: 55/55
Head: Hair (No spots)
Body: Cheap Suit (2 small, 1 V.Small)
Legs: Tan Slacks (2 Small)
Feet: Black Shoes (No Spots)
L. Hand: Empty
R. Hand: Empty
Other Worn items:
Wristwatch
Trade Family Ring
Carried Weight: 2/55
Available Spots:
Inv:
Brass Knuckles (V.Small, Slacks pocket, 1 pound)
Wallet (Small, Slacks pocket, $50)
Bloody envelope
The room consists of a long southbound hallway. There are numerous doors to the on the left and right sides of the corridor. The north end of the corridor leads back onto the main floor, the south end is a back exit from the building.
There are many doors branching east and west off the hallway
There is a door leading out of the building to the south.
There is a door leading back to the main floor to the north
There is a door leading to Tragedy's office behind you
Loose Items,
Rubbish
Closed Containers,
Nothing
Author
Topic: City of Madness; Arkham. Ch. 1: The Lord of Broken Song (Read 30338 times)