The Kill is in the Cure, I

GM: Gnosis
Players: Skitter, Savannah, Denton, Mr. Terrific
Synopsis: Four runners seek out the source of a burgeoning plague.
Date: Saturday October 27th, 2072


It's a chilly night in Denver, despite the fires burning in the Warrens. And while the dark night has danger swirling it visible to those with the second sight- and even noticeable to those who don't, as the tension in the city builds- it isn't the astral dangers that's precipitated the call-out tonight. No, it was more subtle, a message spreading quietly in dives and through various people in the know: there's work on the wind for people with a will to do it. Be at the Smuggler's Lament at 2100 local time. Wear something red.

«OOC» Denton says, "No problem. And I assume Smuggler's Lament is some bar in the Warrens?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "excellent question! Data search, street rumors, shadowrunner haunts, etc, etc! go for it!"

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Intelligence for "I have no skills. I suck. I have a phone book?":
1 2 3 3 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Computers:
1 2 3 4

«OOC» Skitter says, "Unless Safehouse Locations or Smuggling Routes come under it i'm not entirely sure what to roll for that. Haha."

Mr.Terrific , personally, puts in a call to his local Mob fixer. Well, actually his secretary, this doesn't quite warrant calling him personally. Says he's been told to meet at Smuggler's Lament and it doesn't seem to be in the 'trix book. Unless it's a 'trix spot.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "smuggling routes is perfect!"

«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Denver Smuggling Routes:
1 2 4
«OOC» Gnosis says, "phone book works. computers work. it's a bar out in the sioux territory, along the st. louis route."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "not far out into the territory, maybe 30 minutes."

Work! Well, 'shadow' work that is, as Savannah has put in a full day elsewhere doing work. She'll wash up quickly and dig through her clothing for whatever red she has .. aha. Once she's cobbled together an outfit she'll head out to the Smuggler's Lament, leaving early so that she can take three buses, two trams and a cab to get there. This run better pay well.
Mr.Terrific pages: Let me know if my power of 'ask someone else to look it up for you' works out. :)
«OOC» Skitter says, "I'd be able to find it without a problem then?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "contact works, smuggling route works."
Skitter pages: also could my smuggler contact have informed me?

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'your fixer will also want to know why the hell -you're- being pulled into a smuggling den. As in he's interested in information if it's something juicy, especially as that place is protected by the lakota mafia.'.

Mr.Terrific does indeed get Tony Marchino's secretary. While she is perfectly polite, it becomes apparent when she gives Mr. T the address that she merely looked it up on the trix because she was at her cyberterminal. Mr. T thanks her profusely and authorizes an appropriate microcredit as a means of apology for his apparent wizardly inability to do basic things. (In this case, he was just lazy.) He gets a second call from Tony himself with a little more information, to which he responds with, "Just work, as far as I know. The initial meet. I'll let you know more if it's something I should tell you." But crossing into Sioux territory in his Land Rover… let's go completely legal, now. No guns, no hidden stuff. The concealable compartment in the 'rover just has the standard survival kit and car tools that any car should have in this day and age. And then… :hms. Red, red. Do I have something red? Ah yes, this red handkerchief does it go in the right back pocket or the left back pocket for the hanky code? Nah, he'll just put it half in, half out of his front vest pocket and call it done.

«OOC» Skitter says, "It's quite alright to be making my way there now or do i need to have an actual interaction with a contact? (have a post finished, just checking first)"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "anyone who doesn't actually live in Sioux territory: let me know if you're trying to bring anything illegal in, and how you're planning to do so. We'll have a chat. :)"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "also, let me know if you're using a fake sin."
«Plot» Savannah has nothing illegal or immoral to transport into the sector
«Plot» Mr.Terrific goes real SIN, no illegal stuff.

«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Denver Smuggling Routes:
3 5 17

Skitter recieved a call from an 'old friend', as much as grizzly old Boris could be considered such. Skitter was easily interested in the chance for work and made his way through the Warrens where he'd been towards the Sioux region, picking a dirty dark-red glove from a body on his way through the areas that had been hit the worst by the current war going on and continued on to locate and proceed through the smuggling routes that would lead him towards his destination.

«OOC» Denton says, "Using real SIN as well"
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 2:
2 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 1 for "dead of night, so 5 or higher for a search.":
1
«OOC» Gnosis says, "denton, the guard is asleep as you pass through."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "literally, asleep. competely out of it. may have been drugged. there's bird poop on his shoulder."

After catching word of a possible job and doing some fairly minimal research Denton finds himself enroute to the Smuggler's Lament. He takes his personal vehicle, a rather basic Honda 3220 Turbo, and minimal gear. The missile launcher stays at home for now. He does pack a concealable pistol Just In Case. He's never really cared for Sioux Territory and he had some serious border problems not too long ago. This time around things are different though and as he arrives at the checkpoint he finds himself facing a situation that Shadowrunners and Smugglers alike dream of and fantasize about but never imagine actually happening. The guard is napping. Or drunk. Or drugged. Or dead. It doesn't matter really…after taking a hesitant glance around to make sure that he isn't being fucked Denton shrugs and speeds on through. "This is what happens when I leave the good shit at home." He grumbles to himself on the ride to Smuggler's Lament.

The Smuggler's Lament is, as one would expect. It's a dive, its big dirt parking lot full of trucks and vans and jeeps of various sizes, and the good ol'-fashioned Sioux country music of the early 2040s is being played loud enough to be heard a click away. The bar is crammed full of dead-eyed smugglers and dashingly-coloured wannabees. Sooner or later, though, as each runner-in-red enters, they are approached by a beautiful young native girl with bright eyes, a willing smile, and a small card directing them to the back room.

Mr.Terrific has his friendly smile and his gracious mood all ready from chatting with Tony's secretary and Tony himself. It doesn't seem like the kind of place he'd be brought to be executed in the back room, so after cursory precautions (spoting the other people in red who get similar treatment, and not knowing them) he is happy to head along in. He scans in the Astral, just to be sure, because he's that kind of paranoid.

Yikes. Savannah takes a look around the place, the red belt adorning her jeans as she waits to be recognized. This is really not her place, and she'll keep to herself as much as she can. The black watch cap is pulled down on her head to hide her ears as well as to keep her head warm. She nods amiably to the young native girl and moves to follow her when directed to do so.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'bg count of 1 in the place overall, but the room you're being led into seems much cleaner… and there's an unmanifested hearth spirit waiting outside of it. Looks like an ancient sioux brave. Aura reading if you wish to guage its power!'.

There is the occasional pinch for the beautiful anglo elf walking through.

Skitter was perhaps one of the least beautiful folks around. The grimey and scruffy, dandruff covered minotaur made his way into the bar, pointedly tucking the dark-red glove off some slender handed woman into his belt where it could hang on view. For lack of being able to find anything better, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be recognised by the minimal red on him. He glared around the bar on his way in, spotting another wearing red and following them before waiting to be ushered.

When they said to wear red Denton considered this carefully. There is no doubt he is here for the job when he shows up with his customary black eye patch replaced by one that is a crimson red. He opts out of a nice tailored suit or heavy armor and sticks with a leather jacket and armored clothing. Upon entering he grins at the native girl and follows her and the others lead, glancing around and taking note of anyone else wearing red.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Aura Reading (to Gnosis):
1 1 1 2 5 17

You paged Savannah with 'you get the strangest sense as you walk through door… almost as if you've passed through a ghost…'.
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'that is a force 7 bad boy.'.

The room the party is directed to is kept darker than the rest of the bar, and the walls all but cancel out the twang of the Lament proper. Sitting at a old-fashioned wooden table is Gnosis, a young blonde elf, looking nervous. There is a wooden jub on the table and five wooden cups. Some of his nervous looks are directed towards an elderly aging lakota man sitting on a wooden stool in the corner, his face lined with wrinkles from many smiles and sadnesses. He is wearing traditional native garb, and smoking a long pipe.

Gnosis smiles at the others as they enter, again a little nervously. He gestures for them to sit.

Mr.Terrific will give a friendly salute towards nothing in particular as he enters the back room, and will be happy to sit as directed. He salutes similarly when within - touching his forehead with his right hand and covering his heart with his left, some signal of respect to the elder in the corner. In some cultures, the newcomer is supposed to introduce themselves, so he says, "Mister Terrific. I do not claim to be awesome or even superior, but I am terrific."

Savannah dares a look over her shoulder as she makes her way back, swatting hands away deftly as she does so; it isn't the pinching as much as the bruising that bothers her. She raises both eyebrows as she lays eyes on Gnosis, looking surprised. She'll murmur a quiet hello to the elderly man, following Mr. Terrific's lead; she's heard of the magician after all,so he must know what to do. "Sunshine, sir. A pleasure to meet you."

Skitter got a glimpse of Savannah's face as she looked over but stayed rather grim looking himself, pushing into the room and making his way to stand beside the group. The minotaur cast an eye over both Gnosis and the older man in the room in silence and then focused his beetle black eyes intently on Gnosis, not at all following the lead of the others and introducing himself but instead opting for silence as long as possible.

Nothing seems too out of place and so Denton continues into the back room figuring the threat level is pretty low for now. Upon seeing Gnosis he briefly reconsiders this given the fellows somewhat nervous disposition. Then he looks at the old fellow smoking the pipe and figures he'd be a little uneasy around the guy too. Old indians usually have magic of some kind in his experience and magic is always something to be wary of. Denton is not familiar with any ritualistic gestures or proper greetings of respect for this culture. He gives a nod in greeting and says, "Call me Denton." To all gathered. It is one name that he uses frequently and sounds better than his other, Widowmaker, in this situation. After greeting them he moves to take one of the empty seats, sitting down and waiting for what comes next.
As the last runner enters, the young girl (maybe… 17?) steps in and shuts the door behind them, locking it from within.

Gnosis begins pouring into the four cups before him, a thick liquid that smells and sloshes like good beer, and then some into his own cup. "Good evening," he says, at last, then pausing. "Your host would like to thank you all for coming. He has heard the names that have been shared and offers his own: Samuel, in fair exchange. He- we- are glad you are here."

Gnosis frowns a little and looks into his cup, as if listening to something, then continues. "He understands your time is valuable, so he will make this swift. There has been sickness spreading in denver quietly for some time… a sickness of the body, spreading from one who believes she is a healer. Someone who -is- a healer, but has been lied to." He takes a deep breath. "He believes he has found the source of this plague, and wants it stopped. He does not have much money to offer, but he can augment what he -does- have with his friendship. And in some circles, his friendship can be very valuable."

Savannah absently twines a lock of hair around her finger as she listens, tilting her head questioningly when presented with the problem. She starts to speak, perhaps to ask a question or make a suggestion but instead stops herself and looks to the others.

Mr.Terrific says, "It seems reasonable to me." It's exactly the kind of recompense that's worth more to him than money, so any money he picks up will be bonus. And if he gets lessons from someone better than him, that's totally wiz.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "perception tests, please. note if you're awakened or astrally percieving, as well as any other vision mods, in the rollnote."
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Intelligence for "Awakened, not perceiving":
1 1 2 4 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence for "Awakened, astrally perceiving":
2 2 3 5 5 8
«OOC» Gnosis says, "skitter: when you +roll, you can add ~<stuff> at the end to add a note."
«OOC» Skitter says, "Yeah i have done :)"
«OOC» Skitter says, "Also I was going to view astrally in this turn, is that alright?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "you can feel free to."

«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Intelligence for "Not awakened…electronic vis mag rating 3, low light vision, and thermographic.":
1 1 2 3 5 8

«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Intelligence for "Astrally Percieving.":
2 2 5 5

You paged Skitter with 'Gnosis is awakened, has a higher magic and initiate grade than you, and maintaining a detection spell of some kind. he is otherwise completely healthy. The old man is completely mundane, but he is being affected by whatever spell gnosis is casting.'.
You paged Skitter with 'the background count of the room is completely clean, but there is a spirit, shaped like an ancient sioux warrior, sitting cross-legged in front of the old man.'.
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'gnosis is sustaining a spell.'.

Skitter squints across the table at the man in the corner for a while, grunting in distaste when money didn't seem to be on the table so much, attention moves back to Gnosis, grumbling rudely "We bein' payed anythin' fer this?"

Skitter squints across the table at the man in the corner for a while, grunting in distaste when money didn't seem to be on the table so much, attention moves back to Gnosis, grumbling rudely "We bein' payed anythin' fer this?"

Some kind of STD? Of course that would be Denton's first thought when Gnosis mentions a sickness of the body being spread around. More than likely it is something entirely different. But his mind is in the gutter half the time. He looks at the cup of beer that is offered to him and considers…it was a long drive over and he is thirsty. The beer looks good too but…he remains cautious for now and doesn't drink since he hasn't seen anyone else do so yet including their hosts. At the offer of friendship rather than cash Denton does not seem too concerned. Friends in high places are sometimes priceless. He turns to look at Skitter when he brings up the subject, simply quietly waiting to see how Gnosis responds.

Gnosis nods to Skitter. "In addition to the friendship, Samuel's friends have pitched in together and managed to gather forty thousands to provide for this endeavor, to be split as you decide. He understands the need for money: all of you are in expensive buisness, and it may even cost to get here." He pauses. "The location you are heading is another forty miles into the territory. If transportation is a problem, he could provide you instead with twenty thousands and a Land Rover."

Mr.Terrific says, "I have a Land Rover already, and will be happy to use it to ferry us close to the location in question. I am sure we can handle the split as needed from there. If there are any permits to travel to this location? Or if anyone here requires weapons that they weren't able to bring over the border? We would have to know more about the exact nature of the.. sickness." After a moment he realizes he hasn't been clear, and so he says, "That's a yes from me, by the way."

The money doesn't seem to be an issue for Savannah, if she is even paying attention to it. "I have no problem going to help with this sickness." She nods to Mr. Terrific's offer to ferry them further into the sector, adding to it, "I don't think I need any weapons .. though I do have a question? What did you mean by wanting the source of the plague stopped? Just to stop them from doing what they are doing, or …" She lets that trail off, perhaps asking if they are wanting wetwork done, which she doesn't appear happy with.

The dirty minotaur's yellowed, jagged teeth bare in a broad grin at the price, winking at Gnosis "I think i can handle that, sweetheart" head turns and he looks towards Mr. Terrific, nodding what was probably meant to be a thanks but without a verbal confirmation it wasn't clear anyway.

"So far so good…" Denton says in response to the description given of the job thus far. He is not very thrilled about going so far out into the middle of no where but it isn't the first time. He looks over at Terrific and nods in agreement with him when he asks about transporting weapons and the nature of the sickness. "Depending on the situation there are some things I have which may be to our benefit that I did not bring with me." He leaves it at that and waits to hear more about what is going on.

The man in the corner bows his head in sadness as Gnosis turns to answer Savannah. "Do what is necessary," he says. "If you can end this poison without killing, you are welcome to it. But he does not feel as if this cancer can be cured by anything less than a sharp knife, less it fester again to poison bodies and souls."

He looks at Mr. terrific. "Your vehicle has been noted, and arrangements made. It will remain unmolested in the territory for the next twenty-four hours, providing you make no spectacle of yourself." He pauses, wetting his lips some more with the beer, and continues. "The sickness is a rotting in the body. A plague that shifts, but it has its heritage in one of the great contagions of the past: cholera. In its current evolution, it must be ingested, but Samuel is concerned that they may be working on evolving it."

Mr.Terrific says, "I thank you. So, if I could translate that, would I be correct in saying that we are going to a secluded research facility where we will confront someone who is researching a possibly magical, possibly biological disease weapon? Or am I translating incorrectly?"

"Huh?" Savannah glances at Mr. Terrific then to Gnosis to see if the translation was correct. She looks a bit taken aback; she has never even seen such a place. She's filed the information about possibly having to kill someone, and while it isn't her first or even third choice, if it truely is a horrible disease, there are a lot of other people to think about.

Skitter doesn't seem at all bothered, silently waiting on further information. If anything he looks more eager than he had done to begin with.

Any thought of drinking that beer or anything else in this territory for that matter went right out the window when Gnosis mentions body rotting plagues caused by ingesting things. He will take no chances whatsoever when it comes to something like that. Once more he finds himself nodding in agreement with Terrific and makes his own statement about it. "If they are evolving it then I would assume the next logical step would be to make it airborne for maximum effectiveness. As our Terrific friend has said that would likely require a research facility or laboratory of some kind. Sounds like some nasty business to me." He sits back and frowns slightly while waiting to hear more.

Gnosis turns to stare at the old man at that, and the old man looks up to meet his eyes. Nothing is said for one minute… then two… then three… and the look of concentration on Gnosis's face grows. At last he turns back. "Samuel says he believes you are dealing with the work of one madman who is being whispered to by bad medicine. He says that while 'facilty' is technically appropriate, it implies a much grander scale than is currently in play. But he, reluctantly, admits that your suspicions may be correct: if such is the case, he will pay you the same for simply returning to report that." He takes a deep breath. He is clearly sweating.

"He also adds that, should this madman have sponsors, and you find information leading to them, he would prioritize you as the troubleshooters for the grander, possibly more lucrative troubleshooting of those sponsors."

Mr.Terrific bobs his head. "This sort of work can be done in a very small lab. You only need something larger when you're going into large-scale production. And if there is a person who is magically active at the center of this, I know exactly what you mean by bad medicine. The sponsors could be spiritual, physical, or both. And I think that's our job. I thank you for bringing this to our attention." He turns to the others. "If you are in, on the way I'll brief you on basic biological procedures, like, 'don't touch anything and then touch your mouth and nose and eyes.' I have a spell that cleanses an area of harmful organisms but if a disease gets into you, it's a different story."

Gnosis makes another face. "I wish I could go with you," he says, suddenly breaking from his role of go between. "But we anglos are being alotted a certain trust tonight…" His eyes meet Mr. Terrific's, "And so they require… collateral."

Skitter scratches a mist of dandruff from his mane and nods, clasping his hands together and rubbing them in a 'ready to go' sort of maner. Though he considers Gnosis as he speaks, expression not so harsh nor crude anymore. "I'm ready."

Savannah nods to Mr. Terrific, both to indicate she is in as well to his admonishions. She'll stop and glance to Gnosis, "Collateral? What happens to you if we are not successful?"

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'you feel something prodding at your mind, trying to get in. Gnosis's eyes are fixed on yours. Do you accept?'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 6 (to Mr.Terrific) for "mindlink":
1 1 2 2 4 4 4 5 10 = 1 Success

Denton first looks to Terrific and speaks. "I have some chemsealed armor and a spare hazmat suit that may be of assistance. I do not like taking risks of any kind in regard to biological weapons." He then turns to Gnosis and poses some more questions. "Let me make sure that I am clear on this. Are we to first ascertain whether or not this madman has help and to report back if they do. And if not then we are to attempt to capture or kill them or otherwise halt their plans?"

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'You sense Gnosis's mind, under great strain from now being in two mindlinks, and you learn -more-. The old man is mute, and his own 'powers' are limited, but he has great influence here. He needed help, but refused to accept from anglos… so I vouched for you, and said if the team betrayed the sioux, I would be forfiet. The others were picked from available fixers, but you… I vouched for. Don't let me down. -connection drops-.'.

Mr.Terrific says, "I, for one, won't be starting any forest fires." To Denton he says, "You neglect only the possibility that the prime researcher is not evil but only misled. Using his or her skills for research to attempt a cure, while the mysterious backers turn the knowledge to evil purposes."

Gnosis tears his eyes away from Mr.Terrific and looks back at Savannah. "My safety is not contigent upon your success. It is merely… if you abuse the freedom you have been given for the next day." His hand moves, and he lays a stone knife on the table. "And if that… is not returned. If the sponsor is bad medicine, and is present… that will help."

He takes another deep breath, then finishes his drink and looks at Denton. "That is mostly it, yes. If you can handle the situation tonight, do so. If you cannot- use your judgement- return, and share what you have learned."

Mr.Terrific says, "I think we are ready for the co-ordinates." As for the knife, he gives it a look and says, "Not quite my style. Anyone else?"

A furrow appears between Savannah's brow as she glances at the knife, Gnosis, and then the elderly man. She chews on her bottom lip but seems unable to come up with any rationale on how this could be avoided. She looks to the others who are already planning and reaches for the knife. "I'll carry it."

You paged Savannah with 'upon touching the knife, you feel a sudden sense of peace sort of… flow into you. You can feel the land beneath your feet, feel the thrum of the wild. It's not quite like seeing the astral, but you can -feel- it.'.
You paged Savannah with 'or not… not the astral, exactly. less alien.'.

Skitter 's brows lifted in some supprise as Savannah took the knife and he shrugged "Alright, we leavin'?" he asks and looks pointedly towards Terrific.

Gnosis nods and shares the coordinates.

The elven woman blinks and glances to the knife, her expression softening some. Despite her take on wetwork (from what she has expressed, anyway), she holds the blade like she knows what to do with it. She'll swallow and tuck the blade away, beneath her jacket.

Mr.Terrific says, "I think so. If we want to wait for Denton to get chemical gear, I think we have the time to do that, and from there we head out. We can plot out the course and see where we have to go overland and what for."

Denton grunts and looks back to Terrific, "Indeed…anything is possible. This is not my area of specialty…bad medicine. Magic of any kind. Clearly you others may have some additional insight to all this that I, as a mundane, am not aware of. I would appreciate being enlightened if this is the case. You could start with the significance of that knife." He gestures to the knife and then adds. "And it will not take me long to get my things as long as getting it over the border is taken care of."

Skitter gave a somewhat suprising pat to the elven woman's shoulder before retracting his hand and folding his arms "could always torture a bit of information out of 'em, if we can get 'em restrained" he mutters to himself, mostly, but audible.

The lakota girl by the door unlocks it and steps aside, bowing slightly to the shadowrunners leaving.

Savannah glances to Denton and hesitates, offering an uncomfortable shrug. "I .. am not sure?" She shrugs again and says, "I need some time to figure it out, I guess. Clearly it is important for more than a few reasons." She'll move to follow the others, casting a look back to Gnosis, "We *will* be back, and on time."

Mr.Terrific says, on the way out, "Thanks for bringing me in to this," to Gnosis. Only when everyone is out and, say, by his Land Rover does he say, in answer to Denton, "Okay. The classical thing that this MIGHT be is what's called a 'toxic shaman'. You might have heard of them. That's a shaman, or a wizard, who goes insane. More insane than all mages already are. And that insanity fuels their magic. Makes it more powerful. Makes it do nearly impossible things. The world kind of warps around them like a 'Mad Scientist' can do impossible things on the trideo. On the plus side, they're insane, so they aren't the smartest.

Skitter turned to follow behind Terrific, grunting at his words "Madness can be genius.. but at least there are flaws" he rumbles and taps lightly on the vehicle, not looking particularly like he wants to cram in to the thing.

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "So, are we waiting for Denton to go get chem gear, or are we going now?"

Savannah interjects after they are clear, "This is just an idea, but .. if this were a story, this knife would be something that could right what is wrong. It feels like .. well, like it is connected to the Land, the world around us. You know, like the story of the Sword?" Clearly, she means a specific sword in this but like MacBeth, won't say it's name aloud.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "well. Someone -could- do astral suici… astral Recon!!!"
Mr.Terrific smiles to Sunshine. "I think you'll know what to do if it comes up."

«OOC» Denton says, "Denton will bring along a hazmat suit and his heavy security armor which is chemsealed and respirator and all that. The hazmat suit is for anyone else who might like to wear it. He'll also be bringing along his Ruger Thunderbolt and Browning Hi-Power with Spiritbuster and Firepower clips"

«Plot» Gnosis says, " up to you guys. Your vehicles have a free pass in and out of sioux territory for the next 24 hours. You have the location- it's 40 miles away from here, buried in the heart of the mountains, but simple gps work reveals that there is road moving within a mile of it."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "We will use simple GPS work to find a place within a mile that we drive to on roads, then try to get to within a half-mile off-road, then hide the car and go on foot from there. Is that reasonable?"

Mr.Terrific is happy to show Skitter how to push the front seat way way way way back. It does have a 'troll' setting, but in a human-sized car, it's still scrunched. Mr. Terrific might have liked the minotaur to have better hygiene, but that's what his Sterilize spell is for afterwards. Sunshine and Denton can take the back as needed.

Savannah will take the back behind the driver and straps in, conscious of making sure her belts are on and ready. She isn't carrying much beyond clothing and whatever is stuffed in her pockets, plus the knife now.

Skitter grinned and patted Terriffic on the arm in thanks "Aah that's more like it… jus' hope m' horns don't rip up yer roof" he grinned, having somewhat awkwardly pointed horns. He climbs into the front seat and hunches over, trying to be careful of the points of his horns against the roof.

After getting his gear across the border and suiting up in his heavy security armor Denton tags along with the others in the rover. He looks like a stormtrooper in that armor and sounds like one too with the voice mask in place. "I'm trying not to imagine how all this would look if we get pulled over." Denton says, grinning.

Skitter mutters back to Denton "Dunno 'bout you lot, m' just as beautiful n' innocent as i normally am."
Mr.Terrific drives with all due attentiveness. He's keeping a watch for more mundane stuff now, like lookouts and cameras on these roads - ones that aren't the usual kind. And for little side roads and trails when we're closer to the site.

Savannah grins and shakes her head. "With luck, no one will pull us over. I'd have to explain any of this." She'll watch the road idly, most of her attention turned inward to the feelings the knife brought up and the questions she has about all this.

The journey leads deep into the mountains, amid the streams and the trees under a clear night sky in a night that, as the party nears the zone, grows chilling from more than just the cold. There are occasional watchtowers, part of the Sioux Defense force, but as the forest envelops the road, they dissappear. The first thing of note is a slight fuzzing of technology: Flux rating goes down, gps gets spotty. The next, within three miles of the zone, is the trees. They're still there, but there's something… off about them, something not quite right. They're big, they're healthy, but there's something twisted and hard to place. There are side roads and trails available, and the main road is getting worse… at some points, its more rock than road.

Mr.Terrific does his darndest. He's not going for speed, he's going for effectiveness here, so he'll slow down when it gets dangerous or hard to traverse. And if this is any kind of facility, they must have a means of taking deliveries, so he looks for their actual road. But hey, make no assumptions, trust no one, keep your laser handy. His job is to get the gang there.

Savannah stays hunkered down and keeps her eyes clearly on THIS side of the Veil. The way things look, she's not going to want to see how things are over here. She'll pay more attention, however, as they get closer, her keen eyes picking out details in the dark.

Much of what is going on is outside of Denton's area of expertise. Trees are trees to him even if these look rather sinister. He does constantly keep a watch out the window to take note of any peculiarities.
Perhaps Denton is lucky to not be Awakened…ignorance is bliss. He knows he is just the muscle on this mission so he sits quietly and waits.

Skitter probably stinks up the car with greasy wet dog smell, or whatever that was. He's also avoiding the astral as they pass the trees "Ain't this place goin' to have security?" he muttered to Terrific uncertainly, aware that he wasn't the smartest cookie.

Mr.Terrific says, "Question is where they put it. Can't put it too far away. There's roads here, which means other little homesteads and so forth. It's country living, where your nearest neighbor might be a half-mile, mile away. But if their security is a half mile out, they don't have any coverage. There's too many avenues in. It was implied this isn't a huge place."

Mr.Terrific pages: any roll to hide the car etc?

There is a path, just large enough for a land rover here- well, less a path, and more like a dried up creek bed. But it's not too steep on the way up, and it eventually gets the vehicle a closer to a half-mile away… and nearby, there are atv tracks leading deeper into the woods, towards the target area.

Denton looks to Skitter at the mention of security. "I don't know about the rest of you but I can deal with any electronic security that we run into. I'm a little concerned they may have sentries outside the facility though."

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'give me a stealth roll for the vehicle.'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Stealth for "Vehicle hiding":
1 3 3 4
Mr.Terrific pages: may I kp?
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'you may!'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Stealth for "Vehicle hiding kp 10 (kp 9 locked in queue)":
2 3 5 5

«OOC» Gnosis says, "also, perception tests. Visibility out here is extremely limited, and the tree cover prevents much moonlight."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific will stand, at a half mile out. :)

"Well that is good, because I wouldn't know electronic security from a trideo." Savannah shakes her head, looking out the window. "Given how the area looks, I may be dead weight on this other than a pair of eyes and someone to carry things."

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Intelligence for "Elven sight":
1 1 3 4 5 11
«OOC» Denton says, "In addition to cybereye vision mods Denton's helmet has a few as well"

«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Intelligence:
3 5 5 7
«OOC» Skitter says, "erp, forgot to tag that"

«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Intelligence:
1 1 4 4 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence for "Lowlight/thermographic goggles but not at all times, and yes, like a sucker, he'll look into the astral here.":
1 2 2 2 4 4
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Intelligence for "KP 23/24":
2 2 3 4 5 7

You paged Savannah with 'one of the trees has an odd shape where the trunk forks into two smaller ones.'.

You paged Denton with 'ultrasound is picking up a distortion in the shape of one of the trees, thermographic is detecting that that distortion is running alittle hotter… but the way the tree is makes it hard to make out what it is. It's static, though.'.

You paged Savannah with 'you think you see something glinting in a bit of passing moonlight.'.

«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "And then, the PCs were attacked by the random number generator (at least it's happening now and not in any sort of conflict :) )"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay, information shared."

Savannah leans forward to tap on the headrest for Mr. Terrific and mentions, "That tree over there," and she'll scoot forward to point it out for everyone, "It is weirdly shaped. See what I mean? The trunk goes into the two little pieces but … there is something there, something that caught some moonlight. Maybe a camera or gun or fence or .. something?"

Mr.Terrific asks, "Well, did it see us already?" He will try to park where the tree couldn't see the car. "Something to check out with our surveillance expert."

Nodding dutifully, Savannah will be sure to point the tree out to Denton, adding, "I don't know if it saw us, but .. if I saw it, aren't cameras and sensors like robot sharp?"

At about the same time that Savannah speak Denton notices something odd as well. He stares at the same tree and nods in agreement. "I'm picking up some stuff with my helmet too. My guess is that tree is an illusion of some sort…holographic maybe? I could be completely wrong about this. It is not natural though…and I don't think it is magical either. We are just gonna have to get closer I think. But carefully."

Mr.Terrific hides car from tree, disembarks, we walk from here as the old line goes. And then it's time to sneak up on a tree and see what we see as our first clue.

Skitter narrows his eyes towards the tree, not catching sight of whatever it was but certainly trusting his 'team mates' "I could get a bit closer.. got a bit of ah..camouflage." he muttered as he got out of the car quietly "if you wanted me to try and get a closer look"

From afar, Mr.Terrific attempts to peek around a corner at the offending tree with astral sight!

Climbing as quietly as she can out of the vehicle, Savannah moves to the back of the group if she can. She's far from a ninja and perhaps figures that the others should have a fighting chance before she waddles through like a bufflo in heat.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'do it!'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence (to Gnosis):
1 1 2 3 9 10
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Aura Reading (to Gnosis):
1 3 3 4 4 5

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'first off, the area is polluted astrally. BG count of 2 everywhere… except in a 5 meter radius around Savannah, where it is clean and vibrant. Second… the tree is a tree. completely mundane astrally, other than the pollution. Finally, there's an owl in a nearby tree- or owl-like thing- that flew off towards the target zone as -soon- as you poked your eyes astral.'.

"Well…one of should go. I don't think we should all go at once lest we make too much noise or it is a trap of some kind." He looks to Skitter. "What kind of camo? And if it is electronic security of some kind I can try to disable it." He gets his backpack out of the rover and takes out an electronic toolkit.

Mr.Terrific pages: Can I still see it?
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'yes.'.
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'for about… one action.'.

Mr.Terrific is about to raise his hand and point, then stops. "Anyone else see the owl? The one that was in that tree and flew off when I looked astrally?"

«Plot» Gnosis says, "answer is: no. in case anyone's curious. :)"

Mr.Terrific says "I considered attacking it, or banishing it if it was a spirit, but that would be hostile, and we haven't determined if the people in this place are hostile yet."

"Owl?" Savannah looks around, startled. "No, I didn't see anything…."

Denton frowns and looks up and around. "Owl? No…are owls normally attuned to being looked at astrally? I wouldn't think so…could be a sentry of some kind. I think we should proceed quickly with this."

Mr.Terrific says, mostly to Skitter, "Also.. get about ten meters away, and take a look at Sunshine, and then around at this place. This place is tainted, like the Warrens. It has astral static. But the area around Sunshine is clean. Presumably, because she has the knife."

Mr.Terrific tells Denton, "It could have been a spirit in the form of an owl. Or it could have been the ally spirit of the mage we are looking for. In any case, I think it is time to sneak on in. Using any precautions we want to take. And I think you can head up to that tree ordinary style. "

Denton pages: When you said it is static when looking at the tree did you mean static like white noise or something?

Skitter was quickly distracted and looked around for the owl, he grunted "We'd do best to keep close to her then" he said towards Terrific "Perhaps i should join you in percieving the area, but i am apprehensive"

Savannah blinks and looks wide eyed at the implications of what Mr. Terrific has said. "That's .. interesting." She swallows and glances down to where the knife is hidden.

You paged Denton with 'I said distortion, not static. in this case, referring to a distortion in the actual shape… it's not shaped like it ought to be where the trunk forks into two. And that distortion, like a large lump, is running a little hotter.'.

From afar, Denton nods. "Alright"
You paged Savannah with 'thinking about the knife has a soothing effect on nervousness.'.
Denton looks around at the others. "Alright well…lets get this party started then. Shall we all stick together and move to the tree?"

Mr.Terrific says, "Let's do that, then try to scope the 'facility'. Such as it is or will be. I am going to bet the tree isn't special any more but who knows? Maybe the spirit I saw was using the Concealment power to hide the camera from us that we're walking up to now." And thusly, he will sneak towards the tree following Denton's lead.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "anyone trying to advance stealthily does so! I thought you might be advancing towards the tree alone, though, denton. :)"
«OOC» Denton says, "Oh sorry"
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Stealth:
1 1 3 4 5 9
«OOC» Gnosis says, "you! YOU roll stealth! YES!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Stealth for "Whimper":
1 3
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 for "dice of DOOM":
1 1 4

You paged Denton with 'as you approach the device, your ultrasound picks up a distortion in the ground right by the tree… there's something wrong with it, vaguely circular, about 3m diameter.'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Stealth:
1 2 2 3

Savannah, Denver's little ray of sunshine, is many things. She is NOT, however, stealthy by any stretch of the immagination. She does seem calmer, however, perhaps having meditated while they were stopped or perhaps just got cold and calmed down. Regardless, she stays to the back of the pack and steps on every leaf, twig, and gopher that she comes across.

Skitter pages: int to astrally percieve yes? i forgot
You paged Skitter with 'indeed!'.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "mr. t, are you still percieving?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "Yes."
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Intelligence for "To Astrally Percieve":
3 4 5 5
«OOC» Gnosis says, "so noted."
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Stealth:
1 3 4

Denton quickly and quietly works his way toward the trees, the others following behind. He pauses a couple meters away and frowns, looking at the tree and then at the ground. "There is…something on the ground. Circular. More distortion. Again I think it is an illusion of some kind…it is about 3 meters in diameter. This might be an underground entrance. The distortion on the tree I'm still not sure about…maybe a way to open it?"

«OOC» Gnosis says, "skitter, will save your information for a pose or two down the line. give me a moment here, and continue posing after denton's deathtra… job is resolved."

Mr.Terrific ain't doing so hot himself. He's been known to be pretty ninja in the past, but he must be distracted at the moment. Maybe it was flubbing the whole owl thing, getting spotted by it, letting it get away to give warning. Setting up that whole situation. He backs up Denton as best he can.

You paged Denton with 'you catch a glint of moonlight off of the distortion in a tree, and it appears to be a… netgun? with a camera mounted on it, maybe. Aimed at that circular depression…'.
You paged Denton with 'and closer study (next pose)… you think it's a pit in front of you. Mundane coverings- sticks, brush.'.

Long distance to Denton: Gnosis loves ultrasound. i always figure it kind of helps tell you when a structure just isn't as echo-sensitive as it ought to be.

Denton stifles a laugh as he finally realizes what it is they are facing, "Okay so I was wrong. We definitely do not want to go down that hole. It is a trap. There is a camera and some kind of a gun…a netgun or something. I think that is some kind of pit. This must be part of the outlying defenses to the facility or whatever it is we are looking for."

You paged Skitter with 'there is death down that hole. lots of and lots of death, over a lot of time.'.
You paged Skitter with 'it is almost like a sink in the mana there, darker than this night under the trees. this whole place is polluted, twisted, as if some malicious spirit has lived her for time immemorial… except for about 5m around savannah. that is clean.'.

From afar, Denton nods. "Ultrasound is quite useful."

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'that hole is a black spot in mana. deep and dark. much has died there… and it seems to draw and feed on that history.'.

Skitter cringes "He's right…" he said as some confirmation, not that it much counted after it had been said, he gave a shiver as he looked around the area surrounding them "We should move on." he said lowly "I'm going to keep an eye on this side for now, i'd rather know what's around us"

You paged Skitter with 'there is no evidence of webs anywhere around here. no spiders at all.'.
You paged Skitter with 'even Spider's web seems to be missing.'.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay. moving deeper along the way? Denton on point?"

Mr.Terrific says, "All righty. Surprising, that they would put it this far out. Then again, I don't claim to be a security expert, just a magic expert…" and that's when he gets close enough to see the hole with his magic sight running. He flinches back. "Yes. I'll watch the astral, then. Denton, you take point, lead us. Please."

Savannah looks blankly at what they were talking about and shrugs, moving to keep up. She'll avoid the areas they indicated and waits for the others to move out. She is pretty much the spear .. or in this case knife .. carrier and lets the pros handle their business.

You paged (Mr.Terrific, Skitter) with 'as you walk… things… follow you. just out of sight, behind cover in the trees, skittering, dark things on the astral. MAybe… maybe… animal spirits. Or animal ghosts.'.

You paged Denton with 'give a post leading them along, then after that pose coming to a narrow ravine that is steeply angled up, leading to where the house is on the ridge. The light from the house will be barely visible.'.

Skitter seems to have lost his gritty attitude now, the minotaur seems unsettled and looks around as they walk as if he's desperately searching for some small ounce of comfort but finds none with what he sees, stepping closer to Savannah as they walked "Nothin' right about this.." he mutters under his breath, glancing once to Terrific.

Mr.Terrific calms himself as he walks. Getting into the spirit of the thing, letting his eyes accustom both to the darkness in the real world as well as the magical world. He was told there was evil here and guess what? That ol' injun wasn't lying. "I see them too," he says to Sunshine and Skitter. "We are definitely here to fix something."

Denton carefully steps around the tree and begins to move forward on point. Now that they have established the area is booby trapped he proceeds much more slowly and carefully. "Try to follow in my footsteps single file but keep evenly spaced and not too tightly bunched. For all we know there could be a minefield out here too." He goes silent then, simply taking his time and working his way along.

You paged Savannah with 'words come to you: "What is wrong shall be right, what is sick shall be unsick: what does not belong must be gone."'.

You paged Denton with 'feel free to add in a few broken-down booby traps to your descs, too. There's a lot of them, most of them long defunct.'.
You paged Denton with 'maybe a pose of passing those before you get to the ravine. :)'.
From afar, Denton grins. "Sure"

Savannah hesitates, seemingly distracted by something before putting her hand on Skitter's arm, her voice calm, relaxed and almost soothing, "What is wrong shall be made right, what is sick shall be made well. What does not belong must be made to leave." She nods to Mr. Terrific, her eyes slightly out of focus.

«OOC» Gnosis is passing out information as we go. feel free to keep posing traveling along till I say otherwise.
«OOC» Gnosis says, "skitter, mr.t, if you have any knowskills you'd like to use feel free."
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Magic Background (to Gnosis):
1 2 3 5 8 9

Suddenly Denton stops and holds up his fist in the universal 'halt' gesture to those behind him. He silently stares at the ground in front of him for a few moments before kneeling down and picking something up. It is metal, a chain attached to what looks like a giant bear trap. The jaws have already been snapped shut and there is rusted blood around the teeth of it. "How lovely. Watch your feet." He tosses it aside and continues forward.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'the skittering things. Def. ghosts, or maybe even pyschic echoes. They're not active, you don't think they're malicious… just… trapped.'.

Skitter shook his head and looked to the hand on his arm, saying weakly "There's no spider.." it was almost as if an essential support had been lifted from him, and the poor feller was uncomfortable with that. He did as Denton asked and tried to follow step, peering deeply between the trees to either side of them and then ahead, scoping as much as he could. He stops as asked and eyes the trap pointed out to them "…fantastic."

Mr.Terrific likes this 'walk in my footsteps' thing more and more.

Savannah follows carefully, glad for being in last now. Most bear traps aren't big enough for four people, right? Maybe she should lag back a bit….

Along the way Denton spots more and more of the traps. Many of them are passive and already have been tripped. They look like they have been here a long time…rusted and defunct. A couple are still deadly or least able to maim but they manage to get around them. Eventually they come upon a narrow ravine that angles steeply upwards. Denton halts again and stares up, concentrating on…some just barely visible light from what looks like a house perched on the ridge.

The house seems… pituresque. Like it belongs in a painting of the old west, or the ancient flatvid little house on the prairie. It has a thatched roof, a nice little chimney, and even a plume of smoke rising into the night…

And then there's the sound of a small engine being revved, and two headlights appear at the top of the ravine…

Mr.Terrific whispers, "What's the call from here?" He takes out his binoculars to get a look at the headlights. They're just lenses, totally optical, so he can read auras from here.
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'there is an aura behind the lights… but it's a little obscured by the pollution up there. up on the ridge it's bg count 3.'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence (to Gnosis):
1 2 2 3 3 4
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Aura Reading (to Gnosis):
1 2 3 5 5 10

«OOC» Denton says, "How steep is the ravine?"
«OOC» Denton says, "Climable or do we need rope?"

Mr.Terrific pages: Male? Female? I try to get enough of a look so I could find the person with a watcher spirit.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "climbable on foot."

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'you got nothing. you know there's an aura… but you have half a success right now.'.
Mr.Terrific pages: good enough! :)

«OOC» Gnosis says, "without even needing to walk on your hands!"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "and there are more ATV tracks."

"That explains how they get in and out in this country." Denton says quietly, looking up at the headlights. "I'm not sure how best to proceed. Do we go now in case they are about to leave or do we observe?" He looks around to the others for consensus. "Can you take an astral peek or whatever it is you do?"

Savannah hunkers down and waits, catching her breath and conserving energy. This is usually the time when the screaming and running starts in all the trids, and she'll be DAMNED if she is going to be last in this particular race.

Mr.Terrific says, "The astral static gets worse up there. There's a guy on the trike, that's all I can see. We gotta go in. Lead us up, and we all try not to get shot. Shields up." He refreshes his Spell Defense on Denton and himself.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "stealth checks!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Stealth:
4 4 11
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Stealth:
1 2 3 3 3 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Stealth:
2 5 5 15

«OOC» Skitter says, "can i add hiding spec?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "yes."

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 4:
1 1 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Stealth for "OMG!":
2 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Stealth (Hiding) for "comp dice":
1 2 3 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Stealth for "KP 22/24":
3 3 3 4 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Stealth for "KP 20/24":
2 2 2 2 3 4

And now the ATV's coming down… speed picking up as it barrels down the ravine… and halfway down, it triggers its brights, flashing brilliant white-blue light all over the bottom of the ravine!

«OOC» Gnosis says, "We are briefly out of minimal light situations and into glare visibilty situations. ware and powers compensate normally… now… INITIATIVE FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!"

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 2:
2 3
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Initiative with a result of 10.
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Initiative with a result of 8.
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Initiative with a result of 13.
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Initiative with a result of 5.

«Plot» Gnosis says, "Denton 13, Mysterious Stranger 12, Mr. t, 10, Savannah 8, Skitter 5, Denton 3, Mysterious stranger 2."

«OOC» Gnosis says, "those with flare comp: There is a dwarf on the atv, eyes wide with madness…
«OOC» Denton says, "Is the engine in the front of the ATV I would assume?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "it seems likely!"
«OOC» Denton says, "Only one thing to do. Burst fire shot with Ruger Thunderbolt/Firepower ammo into the engine block."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "NICE."
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 1 for "distance":
3
«OOC» Gnosis says, "range is 30 meters."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "visibility glare. standard called shot modifiers."

«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Pistols (Ruger Thunderbolt):
1 2 2 3 3 4 4 14
«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay. so end tn is 6. one success."

«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls 7 for "KP 19/24":
1 1 2 3 3 5 5

«OOC» Denton says, "9M for thunderbolt but then it is burst first and the firepower rounds add +1 power"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "so 12s, 13s."
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 2 vs TN 13:
2 9 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 1 for "dwarfy luck":
1
«OOC» Denton hopes he doesn't break the guys neck in the resulting crash. :P
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 6 vs TN 8 for "ooopps.":
1 2 4 4 5 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 4:
4 5 8 11

You paged Denton with 'pose it. shot's off, a little, but you manage to catch the engine block. He goes careeining, hits a wall, and then there's an explosion… kind of like a grenade going off.'.

«OOC» Gnosis needs reaction tests from people to avoid the careening wreckage of a rocket + gravity propelled ATV bouncing down the ravine towards you.

You paged Denton with 'yes. Poor bastard had an HE IPE grenade in his other hand.'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Reaction for "oh no, not again":
1 1 2 4 4
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Reaction for "oh no, not again Karma reroll":
2 3 4 8 8
«OOC» Savannah says, "stand"
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Reaction for "Uh oh…":
3 3 5 13
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Reaction:
1 1 7 8 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Reaction:
1 1 3 3 3 5 5 7 7

«OOC» Gnosis says, "you're all clear."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "feel free to follow denton's poses with poses escaping certain doom."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "denton got the lowest, so a piece of scrap metal -nearly- takes his head off."

You paged Savannah with 'you get a dwarf head at your feet.'.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'the chain flies at you and takes out a branch near you.'.
You paged Skitter with 'when you leap back to avoid, you almost land on a pile of the skittery things… they get out of the way just in time, and you see what look like a legion of dead, ghostly rats, squirrels… all sorts of children of the forest.'.

As it becomes quite clear that they have been spotted and the figure on the ATV means them harm Denton plants his feet firmly in place and raises his pistol. Thankfully his flare compensators lower the bright glare from the headlights and he is able to see the psychotic dwarf on the ATV coming towards them swinging a chain. Denton has no intention of dying like this. Keeping in mind their goal of not necessarily killing the guy he aims at the ATV and fires his pistol at the engine. It is off slightly but it hits close enough and has the intended effect. The ATV swerves and heads for the steep ravine wall where it slams into it at full speed dwarf and all. This is immediately followed by a large explosion…not from the ATV itself but from some sort of grenade or explosive the dwarf had. The flaming wreckage of the ATV bursts outward over the groups head. Denton in paticular almost takes some shrapnel…though if he had his armor may have saved him. It is a close call nonetheless.

Mr.Terrific has been scrabbling for cover in between trying to pick out the aura of the enemy to dump a spell into. So for him, it's mostly a process of dusking while shrapnel from the explosive tumble whizzes all about. Most notably, the whirling chain singing by him to slice through a branch from the force.

Lights! Savannah is temporarily blinded as her elven eyes, prized by humans for their ability see in the dark, are dazzled by the ATV's headlights. She covers her eyes and blindly staggers back, tripping over a tree limb and by sheer luck avoiding getting brained by the disintigrating vehicle. She groans, pushing her cap and mound of hair back from her face and then SCREAMS, crabbing backwards with her eyes wide in horror: a dwarven head, neatly decapitated, lies at her feet with the cold, dead eyes staring at her in madness, mouth open and tongue dangling out, blood drooling into a neat pool.

Skitter has little time to react after the glare before the the damned ATV explodes and he leaps blindly away to dodge flying debris, almost loosing his footing he plants one foot back and puts a hand to the ground, looking around beneath him and rubbing at his eyes and standing up again quickly as he looks towards Savannah "Sunshine?" he hisses but then sighs with relief "come on, we should move 'a head' ..huhuhuh.." he chuckles under his breath and pulls out his pistol from the concealed holster, ready to move ahead.

The wreckage smokes, but the warm light from the house doesn't change. silence.

Mr.Terrific does indeed think the shit just got real. If they didn't hear that in the house what wouldn't they hear? Time to move in indeedy.

Denton gives himself a quick pat down to make sure all limbs remain and that no small pieces of shrapnel penetrated his armor. When all seems well he looks around at the pieces of the dwarf and frowns. "Sorry guys…I know we wanted to try and fix him or whatever. That fucker would have blown us all up though. This next part is hard but…we just made a big boom. I'm going to stay out here, snooping and pooping. I'll keep an eye out for any reinforcements we might have just attracted. You guys head for the house."

Near hyperventilating, Savannah whines and backpeddles again, rising to her feet and checking herself for injury. She gags a moment at the smell of burning hair and flesh, dropping to one knee to get her composure. She'll be like that for a moment before gasping and rising to her feet, wiping at her face and eyes with the back of her sleeves.

Skitter looks towards Sunshine "Yer alright woman. Lets go" about as comforting as it'd get, he starts forwards hesitantly with his gaze pointedly towards the house, waiting for someone else to move ahead of him.

Mr.Terrific takes point from here. It's magic time, really. His job is to ablate incoming attacks, after all, to set things up for Sunshine's endgame.

Mr.Terrific doesn't say anything, just scrabbles forwards. He trusts the others to follow.

Shakily, Savannah nods and moves to follow in the trusty rearguard position. It didn't work out well for avoiding bodies and heads, but maybe she'll have better luck up the trail. She wipes her nose and continues, eyes still out of sorts from the headlights.

The night grows still as the party ascends the ravine. Around the cute little house is a white picket fence, within with is a garden of flowers and vegetables… most of the blooms closed for the night. But there is a walkway of carefully laid stone leading to a red wooden door with a welcome mat laid before it.

From here, one can see the slope of the valley below, and all the stars are out: it is a beautiful night…

But is that a shadow against the stars, or just a whisp of cloud?

Mr.Terrific pages: Let me know if I should be astrally suspicious. Well, I know I should be astrally suspicious. Let me know if I should be rolling dice. :)

«OOC» Gnosis says, "music is coming from the house: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huKSm0tAvhs"

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'go for it.'.

Mr.Terrific knows that if you put real traps on your front door or your front walkway you'll generally kill yourself when you go out to check the mail early in the morning. But this place is already insane, so he doesn't walk on the stone or the mat, though he scrutinizes them, as well as the many shadows and horrors about.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence (to Gnosis):
2 3 3 4 4 8
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Aura Reading (to Gnosis):
1 1 3 5 7 11

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'the house is thoroughly warded. R6, concealing anything that's inside. But the garden is real, if… twisted, in that subtle way. And in the astral, each board of that fence is washed red with blood.'.

Skitter follows Terrific's lead, stepping as carefully as possible and sticking very close behind, peering at the strange shadows occasionally but not long enough to take his mind off where he was stepping.

Savannah watches and waits, wrinkling her nose at the music coming from the house, seeming at odds with the horrors that surround them. She'll follow the others lead from her position, eyes clearing as they move ever closer to what lies before them.

Mr.Terrific says, "Wards on the walls would keep out spirits," he says, pointing them out. It's entirely possible that front door is totally open, but he will try a window, if there is one, first. Almost as if he's broken into a few houses in his time.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "there is a lovely bay window, and several other ordinary nice ones."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "the curtains are drawn over all of them, but light is streaming out from under them."
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "One that opens, and might be good enough for Skitter."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "bay window's the only one big enough."
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "Does it open?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "you wearing gloves?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "I would be - I did discuss biotech procedures on the way here."
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'it does not open. but it is uncomfortably warm.'.
Mr.Terrific pages: Is it glass? Or super-security-plasti-glass?
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'seems like glass.'.
Mr.Terrific says "Does anyone have a good way to open this, like levitating the latch from this side?"

«OOC» Gnosis says, "any percieving astrally, roll me a magic background test, magical threats, etc."

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Magic Background (to Gnosis):
3 4 4 4 5 5

Shaking her head, Savannah remarks, "Not it." She shrugs helplessly, clearly not a full service telekinetic.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'there's something strange about the construction of the wards…'.

You paged Savannah with 'do you have any interesting magic-based knowskills?'.

«OOC» Skitter says, "sorry ran upstairs, rolling"
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Magical Background:
1 2 3 3 15 17
«OOC» Skitter says, "woah"

You paged Skitter with 'those wards. They're built to keep something in.'.

Savannah pages: PArabotany, Parazoo, Herbalism

You paged Savannah with 'well, all those lovely plants that are growing are awakened plants… each of which is very poisonous.'.

Skitter seemed to be staring at the building deep in thought while his companions tried to figure out a way to get in. He lifts a hand and leans in towards the two of them "The wards.." he mumbles "They're not for keepin' anythin out.. rather the other way around, if you catch my drift"

Savannah pauses after admitting that she is fairly useless, whispering forward, "By the by, every single plant out here is poisonous. Very, very, very poisonous. I'd be careful. And most are Awakened too."

You paged Skitter with 'and you imagine you can hear skittering… like the sound of a spider against a jar… trying to get out…'.

Mr.Terrific says, "I was wondering about those wards.. also, we are now in the 'don't touch your eyes, nose, or mouth' zone. All right. You all spread out. Don't be in the blast radius. I'm going to try the front door. Actually, let me armor up first.

Mr.Terrific goes next to Sunshine to cast 'Armor' as a test to see if it protects him from astral static.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "next to sunshine = 0 bg count."

Savannah will stay still so that Mr. Terrific gains any protection against the problems here before scampering backwards from the house. No sense everyone getting blown up.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 2 vs TN 6 for "Experiment a success! F6 Armor, TN 6, need 1 success.":
1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 8 = 1 Success

Skitter peered at the building further and with some interest "I can hear something.." he mumbled and listened intently "I'll go this way" he motions in the direction he 'thinks' the sound is coming from or more prominent, but he could just be imagining it "ready?"

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 5 vs TN 5 for "against 5m stun, need 2 succ with trauma damper":
1 2 2 2 3 3 3 5 5 7 10 = 4 Successes
Mr.Terrific , now glowing, and a target for everyone to attack, applies his spell defense to himself, and (gasp!) sees if the front door is locked. By twisting the handle.

You paged Savannah with 'you feel like you're beginning to reach the peak of the knife's power. bg is still clear, but the creepy feeling is about to sink in… and you can feel it seeping out from underneath the door…'.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'the door knob turns, but it doesn't feel like it wants to… you will have to give it quite a push to get it open.'.
Mr.Terrific says, "Jammed, not exactly locked." He gives it a solid shove, centering his balance.

Savannah takes a step back, hand going beneath her jacket for the knife. She frowns, looking around as if feeling something wrong, or wronger, about what is going on. She'll keep the knife under wraps for the moment but well in hand, ready to come out.

The door opens. The light is blinding… and inside the cottage is a small laboratory, in the style of an ancient alchemy lab, things bubbling here and there and noxious fumes… and a wizened old native woman looks up from her work with a smile. "Visitors!" She says. "How nice."

The cauldron over the fireplace is boiling something green, and the smoke from it is billowing up the chimney and throughout the whole cottage…

Mr.Terrific waves everyone along. "Grandmother, we are honored. May we enter?" But he doesn't cross the threshhold of the ward. Not glowing as he is.

Skitter drew in a sharp gasp, lurching back as the door opened, quickly covering his mouth subconciously and tightening his grip on his pistol as he saw the fumes "What the frag" he growled and edged closer to Terrific, lowering his hand slowly and eyeing the woman as Mr. T addressed her but also he tries to see anything strange in the room on the astral.

Savannah scoots forward to take in the view at Mr. Terrific's wave. She frowns faintly, brow furrowing as she takes in the idealic scene. The cauldron, however, grabs her attention almost immediately. In her albeit limited experience, anything bubbling and green is not to be trusted.
"please." the woman bows. "Come in. After all, you've come so far… and three of you… how perfect." She flashes a snaggletoothed smile. "I've been watching, you know. Ever since Anna saw you below." She gestures to an owl in the corner- fully visible to everyone- with black feathers and sickly green eyes.

The smoke spilling out of the cauldron begins to take shape… many long, spindly legs, if imagination were to take hold…

You paged Skitter with 'Spider. There's a huge Spider spirit trapped in that fireplace, and its very essence is being cooked into whatever it is she's cooking.'.

Mr.Terrific says, "But of course you have. It would have been impolite of us not to, essentially, announce ourselves. You know there have been some complaints, correct? I don't suppose you could take your cooking off the fire? I have terrible problems with asthma."

The owl turns its unblinking gaze onto Mr. Terrific.

Skitter 's eyes widened, heart seemed to sink in the most obvious of ways. He stared pointedly towards the fireplace "No- let it go" he points towards the fireplace "now! i'm not going to ask twice!" mission target completely lost for him, due to distraction with a greater goal.

Savannah narrows her eyes as the smoke begins to take shape. This, this is something she is familiar with. The elven woman strides forward to take a stand behind Terrific, the knife still beneath her coat, her lips moving soundlessly as she begins to center her mind, focusing her concentrating and shifting her attention to her personal strength, the spirit realm.

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'when you turn your astral gaze on the room, the woman seems completely mundane. The owl is a spirit, and there appears to be a spider spirit trapped in the fireplace… boiling away some sort of essence… changing it into… something…'.

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 for "+12":
1 2 3
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Initiative with a result of 6.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 1 for "+5":
8
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Initiative with a result of 8.
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Initiative with a result of 6.
«Plot» Gnosis says, "18 anna, 11 witch, 8 savannah, 6 skitter, 6 mr t, 8 anna, 1 witch"

«OOC» Skitter says, "Okay! going to need some help with syntax, going to cast some agony.. im near Savvy so i assume that lowers the bg count, and im not sure if i get a plus to illusion or a minus outside of cover?"

«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "So, there's a ward between them and us. Does it protect them from us? I'm pretty sure it's protecting us from them, and to have a decent chance of casting a spell, you need to step into the ward."
«OOC» Skitter says, "could do that, i was wondering that actually"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "+2 dice for illusions, but +2 tn outside of cover, and +1 for not planning this. :)"

«OOC» Gnosis says, "you are you targeting?"
«OOC» Skitter says, "the witch"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay! tn will be 5."
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 + 2 vs TN 5 for "Casting Agony":
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 9 16 = 3 Successes
«OOC» Skitter says, "drain wil+sp?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "yes. what force did you cast it at?"
«OOC» Skitter says, "4"
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 2 vs TN 4:
3 3 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay! drain will be 2m."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "tn will be 2."
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 2 vs TN 2 for "drain":
1 1 2 3 4 5 5 9 = 6 Successes
«OOC» Gnosis says, "drained resisted! pose your action and i'll pose the result."

Skitter narrowed his eyes and stepped into the threshold quickly throwing up his hands and casting a rather angry agony spell towards the witch which caused his face to form into a horrible, hairy, carapace covered shell with eight eyes and two dripping chompers.

The witch falls to the ground, dropping the vial she was holding. It shatters into a dozen pieces, glass and white-hot liquid spilling over her as she screams in horrible pain- the liquid sticking to her skin and continuing to bubble away at her, filling the room with the scent of boiling flesh.

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Free action, drop Armor spell. Move: cross into the room several steps, angling to have Savannah in sight for the magic 5 meters. Complex action: cast F6 Spiritblast, ground zero. So it should target Anna whom I think is an ally spirit, and the mysterious spider thing; while not harming any of us or the witch."

«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "What is the highest willpower of an enemy spirit target?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "presumably, anna, the spider, or something I don't know about?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "highest willpower is 8."

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 vs TN 8 for "F6 'Serious' level Spiritblast, ground zero, inside the cottage.":
1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 8 10 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 - 2 vs TN 8 for "kp 11":
1 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 7 9 14 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 - 2 - 2 vs TN 8 for "kp 13":
1 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 9 15 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 - 2 - 2 - 2 vs TN 8 for "kp 16":
3 3 4 4 4 4 5 8 14 14 = 3 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Stand on 9 successes BUT.."
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower vs TN 2 for "Against 2D drain, need 6 successes with trauma damper":
2 2 2 3 4 5 = 6 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 vs TN 6 for "spider":
1 1 1 2 3 4 5 15 = 1 Success
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Now, the TN for the enemy spirit is 6. HOWEVER, the enemy spirit also has a 'spell pool' just for defense equal to its force"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "ahhh. thank you, that's good to know."

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "So the spider has at least 8 more dice on that roll"
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 vs TN 6 for "bonus dice":
1 2 4 4 4 5 8 13 = 2 Successes
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "and will get to roll all those dice with each karma reroll"
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + 8 - 3 vs TN 6 for "kp":
1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + 8 - 3 vs TN 6 for "kp 3/?":
1 2 2 2 3 5 5 5 9 9 9 10 11 = 5 Successes

«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "So there's a reason the spell had to be pumped like that for any chance of success."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "spider takes serious!"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "And (sadly) Anna the owl?"

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Sorcery Pool: 8 + 4 (toxic potency) vs TN 6 for "Toxic free spirit defence":
1 1 1 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 7 8 8 9 11 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Sorcery Pool: 8 + 4 (toxic potency) - 5 vs TN 6 for "Toxic free spirt defence kp 1/?":
1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 16 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Sorcery Pool: 8 + 4 (toxic potency) - 6 vs TN 6 for "Toxic free spirt defence kp 3/?":
1 1 1 1 2 2 4 4 5 7 9 9 10 11 = 5 Successes

«OOC» Gnosis also notes: until she astrally percieves, savannah can't see spideypants.

Mr.Terrific relaxes the protective glow around him. He's pretty sure it won't help in this upcoming conflict. Instead, he strides boldly within, his fingers taking the hook'em horns sign indicative of his Doctor Strange mental persona. He brings the power within and channels it dead center, blasting out powerfully at the two spirits in the room. And is quite surprised. He thought the spider would be the big problem, instead, it is greviously wounded while it's Anna, the owl, that he thought was an ally spirit, who sloughs off his casting.

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 5 vs TN 6 for "astral chains?":
2 2 4 9 15 = 2 Successes
«OOC» Gnosis says, "astral chains SMASHED!"

The spider squeels like a banshee as the wave of power washes over it, pulverizing its spirit energy as it hisses in the cauldron… but as the power hits it, the invisible force holding it in place snaps, and it rears up, madness in its many, many eyes, and it starts skittereing towards the mortals, limping from its injuries, too many legs, TOO MANY LEGS STARTING TO LEAK INTO THE MATERIAL…

The owl blinks once. Twice. And three times- and it takes its action, snapping off a spell.

«Plot» Savannah says, "Interupt"
«Plot» Savannah will cross the distance and introduce the Owl to the knife, engaging in a Force of Personality Test (SR3, page 188) Willpower to attack, damage is 8MStun (or different due to the knife). Owl defends with Force only to reduce damage, no CP or armor

«OOC» Gnosis says, "understood. will resolve this first, then reconcile the knife's effects."
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 2 vs TN 4 for "engaging in Force of Personality test. Go away, servant of evil!":
1 1 2 2 3 4 5 10 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 2 - 3 vs TN 4 for "engaging in Force of Personality test. Go away, servant of evil!, reroll KP 4/8":
1 1 4 4 22 = 3 Successes
«OOC» Savannah says, "stand on 6 successes"

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + 4 (toxic potency) vs TN 8 for "Resisting her powers!":
1 2 3 3 3 3 5 7 7 9 9 10 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + 4 (toxic potency) - 3 vs TN 8 for "Resisting her powers! kp 4/?":
1 1 1 2 4 5 5 10 17 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 vs TN 10 for "resisting banishing!":
1 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 vs TN 10 for "resisting banishing again!":
1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Gnosis says, "pose attacking with the knife and your personality. will pose result."

Savannah cannot see much of what Mr. Terrific did, but he certainly crossed the threshold and didn't drop dead, so now is the time. The woman is down and while the cauldron is certainly something to worry about, that spooky owl has her attention. Taking a deep breath, Savannah concentrates her pent up frustration and fear into two quick steps and a lunge, executing a precisely timed stab at the bird. It's certainly smaller than she's ever attacked, but size can be decieving. The elf focuses her sheer force of personality, screaming "BEGONE!" as she moves, the sacred blade in her hand.

At the woman's lunge, some feathers are cut, some astral 'blood' is spilled… but when the blade passes through, there's another sound, like the clear, pure peal of a bell… and the world comes back in focus, and the bird is gone, back to whence it came.

Then reality comes crashing in. The knife's power seems to fade from within Savannah, and like a tidal wave the full peversion of the astral pollution comes caving in. The room is no longer a tidy cottage, instead it is a dismal shack, full of all sorts of cheap processing equipment: the kindly old woman becomes a leathery old harridan, screaming on the floor, malourished and weak… and there's still a giant spider hurtling towards the party!

«OOC» Gnosis says, "BG count of 3 now in full effect."
The woman writhes on the ground, taking no action.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "FRESH INIT!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Initiative with a result of 6.
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Initiative with a result of 6.
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Initiative with a result of 10.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 for "+5 spider, penalties for wounds":
3 3 7

The mastiff-sized spider ignores Skitter and Mr. Terrific and Savannah, going across the wall and then dropping from the cieling onto the old woman, legs thrashing, teeth sinking into her….

«OOC» Gnosis says, "magical background, please!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Magic Background (to Gnosis):
2 3 4 4 5 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Magical Background:
1 2 3 5 5 8
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Magical Background:
1 2 14

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "+3 penalties, but she's prone and not moving defensivly.":
1 1 1 1 1 3 4 4 9 11 11 11 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Combat Pool: 4 - 4 vs TN 5 for "+3 penalties, but she's prone and not moving defensivly. kp 5/?":
2 2 2 2 3 4 5 9 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 8 for "spider's reach, penalties, woman's defense.":
2 3 3 7 8 10 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 2 + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 8 for "soaking!":
1 1 2 4 = 0 Successes

«OOC» Gnosis says, "congrats! you all realize what you are watching… this spider spirit was once fair and… ordinary… but a time of torture and life in this place has… turned it."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "and it's consuming its first victim as a toxic!"

It is an ugly, ugly mess. The old woman, wracked in pain already, is completely unable to defend herself from the skittering monster. It lands on her face, and in a smooth, horrifying motion, rips it off.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "Mr. T!"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific spiritblasts again. But this time he will Center against Penalties.
«OOC» Gnosis says, "roger!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Comics Trivia vs TN 4 for "pre-centering":
3 3 5 5 8 10 = 4 Successes
«OOC» Gnosis giggles.
«OOC» Gnosis says, "great centering skill!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Centering vs TN 7 for "tn 8 +3 bg -4 initgrade":
1 2 3 4 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Centering vs TN 7 for "kp 17":
1 1 2 2 5 = 0 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 vs TN 11 for "force 6 Serious spiritblast. At least he wil have penalties to the resist!":
1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 8 9 9 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 vs TN 11 for "kp 18":
1 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 7 7 10 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 vs TN 11 for "kp 20":
1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 8 10 13 = 1 Success

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 - 1 vs TN 11 for "kp 23":
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower vs TN 3 for "2d drain +1 for bg of 3, need 6 successes":
1 2 2 3 3 3 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower - 3 vs TN 3 for "kp 24":
1 2 4 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Sorcery Pool: 4 + Task Pool: 1 vs TN 9 for "BAM!":
1 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 7 8 11 = 1 Success
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "I take moderate, trauma damper makes it 2 boxes. Spider TN to resist is 6 +3 for its wounds is 9."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "which it gets . No effect."

Mr.Terrific attempts another point blank blast, but now with the crushing spiritual decay of this place, he is worn down. He realizes his mistake with the easy pain of a light migraine, feeling like a needle jabbing at the inside of his skull.

«OOC» Savannah says, "I'll attempt to kick a field goal with it, same thing as before -knife"

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Willpower vs TN 4 for "Hey! DIE SPIDER! Resist base 8MStun":
1 1 1 2 2 4 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Willpower - 1 vs TN 4 for "Hey! DIE SPIDER! Resist base 8MStun, karma 5/8":
1 2 9 10 14 = 3 Successes
«OOC» Savannah says, "Stand on 4"
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Task Pool: 1 vs TN 8:
1 2 2 2 4 4 5 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 8 + Task Pool: 1 vs TN 8 for "kp":
1 1 1 2 3 3 5 8 9 = 2 Successes

«OOC» Gnosis says, "kp… expended. Serious stun.

Savanna shrieks at the spider and takes a running start at it, rearing back for a good ol' fashioned drop kick. Nothing fancy, nothing interesting, just something you would do in a Saturday Night brawl. She's bereft of any Native American power ups, but sometimes elven ingenuity works too.

The spirit staggers back from this, the woman's face (and part of her brain), stuck to one of its long legs, looking neearly overwhelmed, but it is still there…

Skitter of course dropped the spell now that there was no real target for it and looked on in desperation, mouth hanging open and.. a rather rare sight, his eyes were glossy with tears "There must be something we can do to fix it- there must be something" he says in denial and the same desperation showing in his face, no action is given other than pleading this turn.

Spider skitters forward, meeting Skitter's eyes with its own- almost in a plea- and then it dematerializes, getting ready to flee…

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Initiative with a result of 11.
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Initiative with a result of 6.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 for "+2":
3 5 10

«OOC» Gnosis says, "de-materialization complete, spider flees at top speed. anyone going to project and attempt to somehow pursue?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "Have the wards mysteriously fallen?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "They don't usually fall like that."
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "unless they were related to the astral chains you mentioned."
«Auto-Judge[]» Skitter (#9679) rolls Initiative with a result of 5.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "yes, they were. sorry, should have mentioned that earlier…"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "your AWESOME spirit blast broke the spell that was holding it trapped here."
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "The only thing to do would be to run outside and see if it's in sight range."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "roll perception."

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Intelligence:
2 2 2 3 4 9
«OOC» Gnosis says, "no trace of it. you think, once it left the building, it may have left the plane."

Mr.Terrific would in fact run outside in the direction it zoomed off, hoping to get a look at it. "Dammit." The witch is dead, clearly beyond help. And a spirit got away. What a clusterfarg.

Savannah shakes her head and says, "Sorry, couldn't catch it in time." She pants and leans over, catching her breath as the adrenaline starts to fade.

Mr.Terrific would have tried to lock it up in a banishing contest, which is what he should have done before. Stupid stupid stupid. He stumps back in to cast 'Sterilize' so we can semi-safely toss the place without giving ourself magical cholera.

Mr.Terrific says "Not a problem. You all did great."

Skitter turned and made his way to the door, staring out at the scenery with a long, exhausted breath as he scanned the astral.. not seeming at all disapointed that the spider got away.

And Denton, out by the Ravine, might be wondering why the cottage on top of the hill has been replaced by a shack.

The garden is still there, though, just as pretty.

Mr. Terrific says, "Contamination procedures, everyone. I'm pretty good at talismongery, and I have some medical skills. Sound off with what you're good at, and then start looking. Carefully."

Frowning at the deceased woman, Savannah girds herself and checks her vitals, all too aware that people without a face and/or brain are probably not going to make it. She'll sigh and look to Terrific, "So. I am good with building houses and gardening .. which ..", rising to her feet, Savannah mentions, "The garden is still here."

Mr. Terrific says, "Okay. I'll look at the drugs and so forth in here." On the comm he says, "Denton? Are you done messing with the dwarf?"

In truth, Savannah knows a bit about a few things. She'll glance around at the witch's set up, considering the layout and if any of it ties to the plants outside. Given their Awakened nature and the like, it is very possible that some of it may tie together. If she does or doesn't get a lead, she'll none the less move towards the garden thereafter.

Denton had been keeping close watch for any reinforcements that might show up while the rest of the team went into the cottage. He doesn't move around too much at first for fear of more traps or of alerting anyone to his position but when things clearly start to heat up at the cottage he begins to rethink his decision to split up. Just then Terrific is on the comm and it is all the reason he needs to leave. He looks down at the severed dwarf head nearby and can't help but give it a nice, firm kick down the ravine where it tumbles and bounces out of sight. "Yeah. I am now." He answers on the comm and starts back up the ravine, pausing to look up. "Where is the fragging house?"

You paged Savannah with 'the beakers of white fluid look like sap from the roots of one of those plants, a known diuretic that is very dangerous in large doses… but slow-acting.'.
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'roll your biotech-y skill of choice!'.

There is also a small computer in the corner, running silently.

«Auto-Judge[]» Shoeshine (#844) rolls 4 for "Mr. Terrific's biotech in the house.":
1 2 4 14
«OOC» Denton says, "So are they inside the shack? Or the cottage? Sorry, I am still confused :)"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "they are inside the shack."

You paged Shoeshine with 'yes. This is not a large scale operation, maybe a dozen doses a day, but it appears from the final packaging that someone is making medicine. basic cold medicine + vitamins. Except… your equipment tells you that this stuff is tainted. It would take a while to take effect, but when it does… it would be bad. You're also showing evidence of some airbone toxin in the room.'.

Mr. Terrific takes samples for further evidence and reports. "So, they're making cold medicine and vitamins with poison in it.. stuff to taint people, make them sick, make them easy to turn. We're also breathing in an airborne toxin right now… we'll have to get treated for it."
Shoeshine pages: It's a toxin, though, not a disease? So there's no point in casting 'sterilize' to kill diseases and stuff.

You paged Shoeshine with 'what's in the air is a toxin, yes.'.

Denton finishes making his way up to the top of the hill and looks around again, seeing just a shack. "Right. This has already been a weird night. I'm not going to question it." He shakes his head and starts walking to the door before he sees Skitter staring at the sky. "Uh…right." He continues to the door, pistol still in hand just in case, and steps inside the shack. "So what the hell is going on?" He asks the other two while he slowly looks around the inside and takes in the scene.
«OOC» Denton says, "Hah…chemseal and respirator bitch"

Mr. Terrific would be happy to give over to Denton. "Drug lab, poison lab, toxin in the air. You any good with computers?" He will do his best to exit after taking his samples, and use his first aid kit to do what he should do - Sterilize himself and so on. He doesn't Sterilize the inside of the place until after he's taken swabs and samples.

Scene for Denton: There is a dead woman on the ground, missing a face. Savannah is kneeling next to her. Mr. Terrific is wandering around looking at things with various tools. There is a growing puddle of blood of the floor from where the woman is sitting, but both Savannah and Mr. Terrific appear unhurt.

The room is increasingly smelling more and more like well-cooked potatoes.

Savannah looks up and nods, "The plants seem to be being distilled into, well, in this case, a diuretic .. slow acting, but very powerful and dangerous." She sighs and shakes her head. "All the good that could have b een done with this…"

You paged Mr.Terrific with 'some of the components here are beyond the scope of what this place should be able to produce. The active ingredients used for some of the cold medicine are clearly mass-produced, the type of which any pharmacy could order in.'.

From within his heavy armor Denton happily takes a deep breathe of filtered air, "No toxins for me today thank you. My chemistry skills are pretty lacking…I know just enough to know I shouldn't touch any of that drek. I leave that to you." He carefully walks through the room avoiding stepping on anything like vials of poison or more booby traps. "Let me take a look at the computer. Maybe some research notes or something on it."

«OOC» Denton says, "Roll computers I take it?"
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Computers:
2 4 5 5

Mr. Terrific says, "Very strange. Some of the stuff here takes much better equipment to make than they have here. The cold medicine is off the shelf, though. A decker might be able to track their orders or something if they have receipts."

«OOC» Denton will KP if that doesn't cut it.

"As an aside, we should take clippings of some of these plants. Some of these are pretty rare, I think, and might be of use to the people down there." Savannah rises and looks around, "I think I am going to step outside before I get any sicker."
«OOC» Gnosis suggests you do. tn 8.

«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Computers vs TN 8 for "KP 18/24":
1 3 4 4 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Computers vs TN 8 for "KP 16/24":
2 4 11 23 = 2 Successes

You paged Denton with 'access. The computer is pretty bare of information for all its high level of security, but you can find order numbers and inventory: all clearly code, though, nothing being mentioned by name, just lot number and vendor number, as well as deliviery times… but there is a release code for a safe.'.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "who is not breathing through some sort of filtering system?"
«OOC» Shoeshine says, "Mr. T was not."
You paged (Savannah, Shoeshine) with 'your eyes are beginning to water the more time you spend in there.'.

Success! Denton has a few failed attempts at first while trying to break into the computer system but he soon gets a lucky break. "Okay I am in. We have got…looks like an order manifest or something. Order numbers, inventory…it is all coded though. No names just numbers and delivery times." He pauses and then speaks up again. "Ah here we go. Release code for a safe. Which I would assume is in here somewhere…"

Denton also mentions, "By the way if those toxins you are breathing turn you into some kind of mindless zombie…do not worry. I'll put you down quick. It's just the decent thing to do."

Definately moving outside. Savannah moves well away from the cabin and tries to catch her breath. She'll spare a thought towards one of her friends, the air around her beginning to move much more quickly, a breeze fluttering her hair and any loose leaves around her.

Mr. Terrific is beginning to look scrawny and pale… no, wait, mage, that's ordinary.

Mr. Terrific does indeed do his do in the toxic room, collect his samples, and get out. He has his medkit out to clean and neutralize and analyze for harmful effects for those who have been in there. (Including Skitter.)

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) uses 1 of item 4: Services for Force 4 Air Elemental from Services (#1242).
You paged Mr.Terrific with 'eyes starting to tear up a little, burning sensation in your throat… your system is unable to detect the specific toxin.'.

When Denton releases the safe, there is an audible 'click' from beneath the floorboards under his feet.

Shoeshine pages: With astral sight, can I detect a magical effect? What about just 'cleaning it off' with eyewash and the like?
You paged Shoeshine with 'its worth a try! and in astral sight, no, not really. No magical effect from the gas.'.
From afar, Shoeshine does in fact attempt generic washing off of badness.
You paged Shoeshine with 'it seems to help.'.

"I'll just assume that was the safe opening and not a bomb or something else being triggered." Denton mutters to himself, turning to see that the others have fled the room. He speaks over the comm. "I'm gonna check out what is in the safe. Update in a few." He kneels down and feels along the floorboards for a loose one or a hidden catch or something to reveal the safe.

You paged Shoeshine with 'but the rag will be stained green.'.

And the bomb starts ticking… denton finds the lose floorboard, and finds a metal safe underneath, the maglock blinking green.

Shoeshine pages: It's a high end Savoir medical kit, so it does pretty good.
You paged Shoeshine with 'yeah, that has it covered. The Savior is still unable to identify it, but finally decides to class it as related to tear gas.'.

Denton reaches down to open the safe and…pauses. He frowns inside his helmet and considers. "Seems almost too easy. These fuckers do like their booby traps." He gives the safe a good, long look for any sort of anti-tampering devices. True, it was already released on the computer but he is a very suspicious runner. Anyways, assuming all is clear he opens it up.

«Auto-Judge[]» Shoeshine (#844) rolls 1 for "Savoir Medikit on eyewash and other washing-off supply usage":
5

Hopefully safe from the bomb's blast, Savannah stays in the little area of disturbed air, instructing her elemental to move fresh air in and keeping the bad air from the cabin away from her. There isn't much she can do with the computer or the laboratory in this case, so she's left with waiting to die of whatever they were breathing.

Mr. Terrific would offer similar medical services to Sunshine. "The kit says it's kind of like tear gas, but no known compound." And Skitter as well. He's still not happy, but he's down to 'allergic to the cat that's in the room' as opposed to 'about to choke to death.'

The safe is full of about forty carefully placed slides, each made of plastiglass, suspended in an intricate shelf system.

They seem so… ordinary, but someone has taken the time to store them very carefully.
«OOC» Denton says, "Is the shelf system moveable as a whole?"
«OOC» Denton says, "Or even the safe for that matter"

Savannah will of course take the offered medication, frowning at the kit. "I should have brought my bag. Then again .." The elf looks at the garden and says, "I bet it was somehow made from some plant compounds, maybe mixed with something else?" She muses about this while Terrific fixes her up.

«Auto-Judge[]» Shoeshine (#844) rolls 1 for "Savoir Medikit on eyewash and other washing-off supply usage on Sunshine":
2
«Auto-Judge[]» Shoeshine (#844) rolls 1 for "Savoir Medikit on eyewash and other washing-off supply usage on Skitter":
1
«Plot» Shoeshine says, "I will use up 2 units for Gnosis to log."

Shoeshine nods in agreement to Sunshine. "I have samples for later."
Mr. Terrific nods in agreement to Sunshine. "I have samples for later."

«OOC» Denton says, "And by slides I assume you me like microscope slides or something?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "yes, exactly, denton"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "you can pull out entire shelves. there are five of them, 8 slides each."
«OOC» Denton says, "What about the safe itself?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "seems buried pretty firmly into the ground."
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 1 for "time check":
4

Once the safe is open Denton gets on the comm, "Okay…jackpot. We got slides here…looks very important. And probably deadly too. I don't like this shit at all. There are a lot of slides here too. Terrific you have the biotech know how don't you? Any suggestions on carrying them or should I just stuff them in my backpack and hope for the best?"

«OOC» Savannah says, "Is there anything I can cobble together from the cabin to transport the seedlings with a viable chance of keeping them alive?"

Mr. Terrific calls in softly, "Look at the slides. Do they have a little glass thingy over the center, pinning the stuff on the slide in place? Or are they open to the air?"

«OOC» Gnosis says, "roll herbalism/gardening/whichever you have, plz."
«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Herbalism for "Save the plants!":
2 4 7 9

You paged Denton with 'yes. little glass thingie, pinning it in place.'.
Denton frowns inside his helmet, "Good question." He gets down and looks closer at an individual slide in the safe to make sure that it is not exposed to open air or for that matter if the safe is in some way refrigerated.
Also: the safe IS refrigerated.

You paged Savannah with 'actually, upon returning, you can find a complete gardening kit, including thick thick gloves and a small burlap sack.'.

«OOC» Denton says, "It is rather cold outside isn't it?"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "yes. nearly freezing by now."

Aha! Once she's been innoculated and caught her breath, Savannah will head back to look around the cabin. Success! She'll turn up gardening gear, some gloves, and a sack made of burlap. Humming quietly, she'll move to collect seedlings and samples of the various Awakened and even mundane plants, storing them with care.

Mr. Terrific says, "If they have those little glass things over the center, you can stack them on top of one another safely enough for our purposes. Then just put them in a tupperware thing or something. Anything."

Denton sits back up and frowns once more. "Okay…they are sealed but the safe is refrigerated. This obviously poses some new problems. It's cold enough outside that it shouldn't make too much difference but once we get back to the vehicle things will heat up. We have to be very careful here…we could unwittingly be the ones to end up spreading this virus if we got running back to town with it."

Savannah looks up from her gardening, mentioning "I could have one of my spirits sit over it and circulate the air, keeping it not only cooled off but also keeping anything airbourne from leaving the container?"

"Stack them, case them. Then I'll Sterilize, and sterilize again," says Mr. Terrific. "We want live samples, of course. We may want to telephone ahead for a safer handoff with appropriate precautions."

«Auto-Judge[]» Savannah (#1218) rolls Intelligence for "Elven vision":
1 2 3 5 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Shoeshine (#844) rolls 6 for "Mr. T Int":
1 2 3 3 4 7
«Auto-Judge[]» Denton (#3047) rolls Intelligence:
1 2 3 4 5 11

Denton starts to remove the shelves from the safe and place them on the floor nearby. He looks around for a moment and sighs. "Not much in here to safely store them in. But…maybe…" He reaches into his backpack and pulls out a bandana. He begins to carefully remove the slides one by one and stack them, then very carefully but tightly folds them up within. He then looks around for anything at all that might be air tight to put them in, or some other simple to hold container.

You paged Denton with 'You hear… yes, that's a helicopter. A long way off, but… getting closer.'.

Suddenly Denton stands straight up and looks around, and then at up. "Oh fuck." He says on the comm. "Time to move. Helicopter enroute. Move now!" He stops looking for a container and just puts the bandana wrapped slides into his backpack before running for the door.

At Denton's words Savannah is already moving, motioning for Skitter to follow and get into the tree line. They probably will still get seen, but it will be harder to get a bead on them, right?

Mr. Terrific, too, is sure to move. It's Dodge, getting the hell out of time. Exfiltration, as they call it.

You paged Savannah with 'You were able to collect samples from four of the plants. :)'.
You paged Savannah with 'including seeds!'.

Denton is out the door and moving toward the direction they came from, which would be down the ravine. He is on the comm too while he runs. "Do we totally bug out or do we try and hide and see who it is? Assuming they haven't already spotted us."

Skitter flees with the others, hurrying down towards the treeline!

Mr. Terrific says, "Getting out with what we have is more important. use distance vision if you want."
Everyone can hear the chopper now… must not be a small one, but the various peaks around here are making it take its time…

No comm, so Savannah does not answer. She does move quickly, though, her long legs put to a good use finally! She keeps the burlap bag safe, containing four samples including seedlings. Better to get back to the car and bug out than stay and play with militia.

You paged Savannah with 'as you run, you feel… briefly cold. A distant, raspy voice speaks in your head: I WILL NOT FORGET YOU. THIS IS NOT FINISHED- I WILL BE BACK, CHILD OF THE CYCLE.'.

Denton is torn for a moment about staying and going…but it is only a moment. They already have most of what they came for and he knows better than to push his luck. He continues on to the tree line but does pause there briefly to look back and try to identify the type of helicopter or anything about it that might give more info. Like a big corporate logo on the side.

You paged Denton with 'blacked out. Large combat chopper.'.

Denton does not like what he sees. At all. He increases his speed dramatically.

As the runners get under the treeline, the sound of heavy machine gun fire rips through the night.

Mr. Terrific is more than happy with green poison on a cloth, mysterious toxens, and strange samples. He would have liked to capture that witch alive.. but it was not meant to be. And my my, that doesn't sound good. It's almost like someone wants to destroy the evidence.

Mr. Terrific will be driving out of here with his low light goggles on and his headlights off.

You paged Denton with 'the last image you get is of muzzle flashes illuminating the chopper, and explosive bullets ripping through the building.'.
You paged Denton with 'and the building collapsing.'.

Must go faster, must go faster, must go faster! Savannah hauls butt, not even daring to look over her shoulder.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "free poses back to the vehicle, as many as you want to take."
«OOC» Gnosis says, "if you wish to do any other investigation on the way, just let me know. :)"

Mr. Terrific finds that broken field woods-running is much more fun when people aren't shooting machineguns full auto in your vicinity, but somehow he bets that he's still motivated enough to manage a personal best.

Unlike many magicians and non-combat intensive runners, Savannah spends a great deal of time actually working, and working outdoors. She puts her head down and runs flat out for where they left their ride, her breathing coming in gasps, little puffs that drift back behind her. An amused elemental keeps pace with her in the astral, admonishing her to breath better.

Denton gets a nice view of the shack blowing to pieces as explosive machine gun rounds tear into it from the black combat chopper. Denton has no interest in finding any more out about who that might be and so he heads back to the car trying to follow the path he came in on to avoid any other traps in the area when he nearly stumbles over the severed head of the dwarf that he sent flying down the ravine. "Fuck! What is your problem asshole?" He kicks the head away again and continues toward the car.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "no pursuit down the path. Car is where you left it. mind the pit on your return."

Mr. Terrific does indeed drive no lights. It turns out he knows which fuses to remove to turn off the signal lights too.

Denton carefully removes the stack of wrapped slides from his backpack when he gets into the vehicle, looking at the others. "Alright…how do you propose we keep these things from going nuclear in the car?"

A whisper on the wind reminds Savannah about the pit and she'll veer to avoid it, running until she literally hits the car. She'll wait for Terrific to unlock it before climbing into the back and ducking down as low as she can, hoping that they aren't next on the shooting list.

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls 3 vs TN 8 for "passive scans. land rover through trees?":
4 5 5 = 0 Successes

Mr. Terrific takes out the plastic sealed case his survival kit comes in, and pops the instant cold pack from the first aid kit to keep it chill. Now all his other first aid crap is on the floor but hey.

Savannah directs the spirit she has with her to circulate the air around the case, insuring that it stays cold as well as fairly hermetically sealed, in more ways than one.
Denton is happy to let Terrific take the Slides of Death from him and put them into the case and for Savannah to do her magic. "Excellent. That'll do nicely. I'm going to burn that bandana. And the backpack. I liked both." He sighs and looks out the window, glad to be leaving this awful place.
As the slides are passed over, there is a numbered designation on them… Denton will recognize that they match several on the inventory list.

"By the way, some mysterious voice spoke in my head as we were running." Savannah tries to keep her voice calm, peeking up to look for helicopters.

Mr. Terrific is concentrating on driving as you would be if you were driving through lowlight goggles for the first time in your life through woods while you might be being tracked by a helicopter with machineguns that could cut through your vehicle like tinfoil. "Oh do tell," he says.

«OOC» Denton hmms. "I did forget to say this so I understand if it is a no go but could Denton have copied the computer information? He does have 100MP storage in the helmet.
«OOC» Gnosis says, "I will allow it. :)"

The chopper sound starts increasing again. It's getting closer.

"It said, "I will not forget you and that this is not finished, and it will be back." Savannah shakes her head and stay low. "So there's that. I'll have a little friend coming to see me." She laughs, a little on the edge.

Mr. Terrific says, "Ah, but remember. We've seen them. That means we can find them. We're forewarned, and can strike first."

Denton looks back from the window at Savannah and groans. "What? Your not just off your meds? That sounds pretty frightening." He frowns and shakes his head, then listens closely. "That helicopter is getting closer. I should have brought the fucking missile launcher!"

It's there! Overhead! The shadow passes over the vehicle, the searchlight panning around, looking for something… them?… the chopper pausing… good eyes can make out the gun barrels…
…And then it's gone.

"Meds? Well, truth be told I did skip a few things this morning but nothing that causes ….." Savannah shuts up as the chopper pauses, eyes following it.

Denton sighs again when all seems to be clear…for now. "Well that was close. I assume it didn't see us.
Or maybe we are just being followed back to the J. Whatever…we are still alive I guess. Or at least I am. You three are probably turning into zombies as we speak. In fact I think he already has…" He gestures at Skitter who seems to be staring at some far off place.

"Zombies would be an improvement given what was in the cabin," Savannah says, shaking her head. "Still, we're alive and we're going to head back and make sure that the people who need to know about this are taking care of things. Everything will be fine." She nods and leans back, keeping an ear out for the helo.

Mr. Terrific will eventually get to a real road, where he has to turn on his lights and put in his fuses. And drive casual, to make the handoff. Better not go into heavily populated areas.

The Smuggler's lament is mostly empty when the party arrives, but when they get there, they are hurried to the back room, where the others wait. Gnosis smiles, relieved, when they arrive, and the old man stares, waiting for their information.

Savannah carries in the burlap sack and helps guide Skitter into the bar. While the man is troubled, they started the journey together, and it is likely better they end it together. The spirit world likes symetry.

«OOC» Denton says, "Does Denton get a chance to change out of his armor or do they get whisked in that quick? :)"
«OOC» Gnosis says, "you can have changed out, no problem."

Savannah will elaborate on what Mr. Terrific tells, adding in what she saw and what they found including the plants and slides. She'll mention the voice of the creature as well.

Denton has the decency to get changed out of his armor before arriving back to meet with Gnosis and the old man. When they are settled in he looks around and speaks up, "We have much information to share. I will need to let my colleagues explain what happened with the woman." He shares the part concerning the computer information, the slides, and the matching data between them. And about that annoying dwarf. Just not the football part.

The old man makes a very sad face, and Gnosis nods. "It is at we feared, then… there is bad medicine at work, and with the helicopter… we will investigate more thouroughly. Some one will know where that helicopter came from."

The man will take the knife from savannah, and gnosis will explain further. "It is regretable that the knife's power has faded, but it has banished what did not belong. Such things return, however… unless one has the will to find out where they lurk and the strength to go to their home and destroy them there." Gnosis inclines his head a moment, and finishes. "You have more than earned your pay, and Samuel's friendship. Samuel will be certain to contact you as his first choice if he learns anything more."

Mr. Terrific bows his head and says, "I am honored indeed. " He doesn't mention being glad Gnosis wasn't killed here for their failure.

Gnosis doesn't mention that either.

Savannah smiles warmly and says, "Thank you for trusting us with this. We will remember you." She steps back and nudges Skitter back as well, the minotaur blankly nodding in agreement.
Gnosis steps up, looking at the old man, bowing, and turns to the others as he fans out four cred chips on the table. "I'll see you guys around… get some rest. There will be more work to do soon."
Mr. Terrific will take the money - but he will also Sterilize the room to cover the places we have touched, ourselves, and his vehicle. Safe rather than sorry.

Denton seems satisfied with the result and the payout, nodding to the others. "It was good working with you all. I'd be happy to again in the future." He collects his credstick and leaves when the others do.

Savannah will collect her spirit as well as her payment, considering what to do with this. She nods soberly to Samuel and Gnosis both and will leave when appropriate, having more than enough to think on.

Mr. Terrific will offer anyone who needs it a ride home in his now-sterile car. Actually not home, he doesn't want to know where you live.

«OOC» Gnosis says, "okay, guys. thanks for playing! Hope you come back for future episodes of 'the Kill is in the Cure.'"

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