[October 19, 2020. Time: 3:30 pm.] [The questioning has ended. Ren has gone off to talk to the Peter's group. Jonathon just called Derk and he gets the answering machine. Saldin's off screen to return shortly.] [Start] * Jonathon looks at the phone for a moment and then puts it back in the cradle. He then slips on his coat and presses the intercom button. "Libby, hold down the fort while I'm gone, would you, luv? And hold all my calls." Will do. * Jonathon heads out of the office and cruises over to Derk's place personally. [Time: 3:50] [Jonathon gets up to the appropriate floor in the quite nice condo building. As he walks up, Saldin appears at his side. Hearing checks, everyone.] [Both of you hear singing from Derk's appartment. Even down the hall, Saldin notes that it has a bit of a lullaby quality to it. The nature of the singing doesn't quite fit the lyrics.] When I was younger, so much younger than today. o/~ [There's a few neighbors listening in the hallway.] [Jonathon hears the singing, but it's muffled and he doesn't notice the lullaby- effect.] * Saldin quirks an eyebrow silently, a small smile crossing her lips. * Jonathon looks ready to knock on the door, then pulls his hand away and straightens his coat. "Well then. That's convenient." * Saldin looks over to Jonathon and asks, "How is his singing convenient?" I never needed anybody's help in any way. o/~ * Jonathon looks at Saldin. "No, the fact that he is here is convenient. He was not when I called." * Saldin aahs softly. I like this, kinda of our own little concert hall. Eh, so long as it doesn't happen at night. I mean, he's singing kinda mellow, but the lyrics all seem urgent. * Neighbor1 nods. [Derk is singing from within his apartment. Since Jonathon approached, the singing is closer than when he was down the hall. However, Derk has not apparently moved within his apartment.] But now those days are gone, I'm not so self-assured. o/~ * Jonathon raises his hand up and knocks with a flick of his hand, knuckles wrapping against the door. * Derk doesn't move within the apartment. "Now I find, I'm in a bind, please open up the door." o/~ * Jonathon looks at Saldin. "Either that is a hint or the one of the poorer selection of lyrics I have heard." He tries the door. * Saldin just smiles slightly. [The door is locked. More specifically, the door knob seems to be locked. The deadbolt isn't.] * Jonathon pulls his hand away and sighs dramatically, shrugging. "Poor lyrics it is then." * Jonathon knocks again, harder. I don't think he's being literal. *Help me* if you can, I'm feeling down. And I would appreciate police coming round. Please keep me from being put back in the ground... o/~ Man, he's ruining the song. I'm going to go put on headphones. ::Goes back to his apartment:: * Saldin gets a very small frown on her face. "I think simple messages demand simple responses." * Jonathon whispers over to Saldin. "Can you sense anyone else in the apartment?" (Sixth sense check, +4 penalty because it's through a door. I'll say that sort of thing requires active concentration.) * Saldin focues her attention on the apartment a moment, then she says in a cold voice, "Your vampire will soon be accosted by demons." * Jonathon takes in a breath and glances the other neighbor's way, still whispering, "Well that bloody well pulls all, doesn't it? Can we get that other one back in his apartment?" * Neighbor1 mutters under his breath. "Whiny sod. What's wrong with a little improvisation?" * Saldin helpfully replies, "You can ask?" * Jonathon smiles slightly and walks over to the other neighbor. "Certainly. I can see that such talent is not lost on such a fine connoisseur of musical aptitude as yourself." * Neighbor1 nods and smiles. "I mean sure, reworking "Fuck the Police" as a light rock song "Call the Police" is weird. But it's also a satirical commentary on the late 20th century gangster rap scene, don't you think?" Undoubtedly. Actually, I believe there in a concert going on downtown fairly soon. Have you heard of it? Won't you please, please help me. o/~ Yeah, I think I read something about that in the Guardian. Why? * Jonathon smiles and puts his arm around his shoulder. "Care to go? I've been looking for a connoisseur such as myself to do a report on the concert, but alas, my schedule doesn't allow for it. I would be pleased if you could get a recording of the concert. Sure. I don't have tickets, where was it again? I only sort of remember the article. Perhaps you can even do a commentary. Get your own write-up in the local paper. I suspect with your creative gift and appreciation for the arts, you would be more than worthy. * Jonathon pulls out some cash. "Royal Albert Hall. They may be getting sold out though soon, so it might be best to hurry." Sure! ::He scurries off while calling in a purchase:: * Saldin places her hand just above the split of her robe. Ready to draw and fire, as it were? [The hall is now empty.] * Jonathon sucks in his breath. "This is getting to be a bloody nuisance." He walks back over to the door and takes out his pistol, attaching a silencer on the barrel. * Jonathon waits first for any reaction from Saldin. Barring none, he takes aim at the lock and fires. * Saldin is just looking ready to rip off her clothes. [Give me an attack roll.] [Feel free to make it a full attack.] [+2 penalty from size.] (Also, feel free to take the aiming bonus.) (Since it is an inanimate object at point blank, you'll hit it regardless. The roll is to determine if you do it quietly.) [Jonathon's shot is dead and takes the knob clean off. Unfortunately for Jonathon, the door was apparently badly constructed, and proceeds to fall over on top of him. Give me a ranged dodge roll with a +2 penalty from spreading.] [Jonathon is still fleet of foot and dodges out of the way in time. However, the commotion is noticed...] [Inside, three obsidian hounds rise from the floor and turn around. They had apprently been lulled into a calmer state by Derk's music, but now feel threatened. A rather dazed looking Derk stops singing at your arrival. "Oh thank the Beatles..."] [Initiative rolls!] * Jonathon sighs and shrugs with the pistol. "Bloody brilliant. If I thought the police would have been any help..." [Jonathon, Dog1, Saldin, Derk, Dog2, Dog3] [Behind the door is a fairly vast central hall, it's fairly cheerfully adorned with an eclectic mix of artwork, mostly modern variations on tradition forms....] [About halfway down the hall, the ceiling raises, presumably because of a balcony on the second floor. This allows two level windows proffering a beautiful view of the city. Two of the latest ergonomically designed chairs are setup by a small table, well positioned to appreciate the view.] [Derk and the three dogs are on the first floor.] * Jonathon pulls a clip from his jacket and ejects the normal clip from his gun for something nicer, catching the first one before it hits the ground with the same hand and slamming the alternate clip in the gun. This one has a light blue stripe along the length of it. [Dog1 rushes to attack. It leaps through the wall by the doorframe at Jonathon. The leap through the wall leaves that segment of the wall blackened and smoldering. Fortunately for Jonathon, the dog misses.] [Saldin] * Saldin doffs her robe and takes her amulet in one hand, focusing on one of the dogs as it starts to glow along with her eyes. [10 init delay begins.] [Derk] * Derk gets a harsh grins and backs up as he begins singing again. This time he goes with the White Stripes. "I'm gonna fight 'em all. A nation army couldn't hold me back." o/~ [-2 bonus to all rolls, as per irritant except reversed. Feel free to make a soul roll to resist, if for some reason you don't like bonuses.] (Oh dear lord, Derk's a bard class.) (What did you expect? ^_~) [One of the hounds seems unaffected by the singing. The other two bay and seem irritated. Not so irritated that they focus Derk instead of you two. One attacks Jonathon and on attacks Saldin.] [Jonathon's misses. Saldin has a potential hit against her.] (against her rather) [Saldin takes the hit. 19 Damage. Fire resistance helps.] [Saldin's turn, proper. Oh, and give me hearing rolls both of you. +4 penalty.] * Saldin 's amulet flashes brigly towards the hound that just smacked her up! [The dog wimpers as it is exorcised and vanishes with a poof of brimstone.] * Saldin 's body glows slightly, oddly, and then she looks very... smouldering. And in more than the sexy sense, she actually seems to be barely glowing, like coals. [And as Saldin is engaged a large humanoid leaps down from the second floor. It's form is murky. There's a young female voice speaking from within it. "I was hoping you'd lead the rescue, Mr. Marlyne."] [Saldin recognizes the voice as Raleigh's. The demon's sense aura appears to be blocked, as per Raleigh's amulet's powers.] [The humanoid form is solid, but doesn't have clearly defined features.] * Jonathon raises an eyebrow. "Trully. Forgive me if I don't do not quite recognize faceless minions." He looks on the humanoid form again. "Quite literally in this case." [A telepathic voice speaks in everyone's mind. ~That's alright. You don't know me, yet.~ Jonathon is then buffeted by mental force from the creature.] (What we have here is a telepathic attack.) (What we have here is a lack of knowledge of what to roll to defend!) (Reading up. Rules of page 71)\ (Average mind/soul with +2 penalty. Mind shield helps.) [Jonathon finds himself standing in a familar field. #sabflashback. Saldin join too but don't pay attention just yet.] [And Jonathon successfully weakens the control. He can decide how to act now, as it's his turn in init.] * Jonathon grits his teeth, but it turns into a grin. "I say. That's interesting and all. But trully, I think you should pick someone else to dig into their skull." He pulls his gun up, shakily, and aims for the balcony, riccocheting a shot off to hit murky one in the back. Not good enough Ran'Ch'Om. Hounds, focus on the monk. [The humanoid form tries to dodge the bullet, but fails. It seems somewhat armored and thus takes less damage than expected, but still seems hurt. Jnoathon can feel anger wash over him telepathically.] [The first hound again goes through Saldin. The second leaps for him and overshoots going through the floor beneath him. That one is out of commission for a round or two.] [So 14 damage. Derk keeps singing.] [Saldin's turn.] (14 after resistance, to be clear) (Exorcism go off?) * Raleigh was not clearly addressing anyone when she was speaking. [She could have been talking to herself, something invisible, who knows.] * Saldin puts her exorcism efforts to the one that smacked her up THIS time! [Bad doggie go poof!] * Raleigh sounds angry and continues speaking to an unclear source. "No, family payback is not your task." [Jonathon comes under psychic attack again. The reprimand appears to have been successful and Jonathon's mind is overwhelmed by the renewed offensive. Back to #sabflashback with you.] [Jonathon is still for the moment, apparently tapped in his own mind.] [The hell hound beneath you runs over to the stairs and bounds up to this floor. However, it won't have a chance to attack this round.] [Derk keeps singing "Everybody knows about it. From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell." o/~] [Saldin's turn!] * Saldin 's eyes flick towards the mental combat before she takes care of the last hound. Like it or not, they're the active threats. [The hound shrugs off the assault. It seems to be learning from the fate of its brethren and will have a +2 bonus to its next exorcism defense roll.] [Raleigh] [Jonathon, repeat that defense roll. Soul/mind average. -2 penalty from mental combat rules. +2 bonus from Derk.] * Raleigh's voice sounds from inside the critter. "That's sweet but I should get going. ::pause:: Salvation, you're being unprofessional. Fine, stay, I'll have no part of it." [The humanoid form fades into a dark smoke that seems to be absorbed into a small spot on Raleigh's left leg. She's wearing a long dress though, so you can't see the specifics. She steps back as the creature then reforms in front of her.] [Jonathon, who was freed when the creature went smokey. Then Saldin (pre- exorcism delay), then Derk, then Doggy, the creature and Raleigh again.] (That last one should have had an Order: before it) [Jonathon] [Incidentally, the damage seems to have been split 50-50 between Raleign and the humanoid form in front of her.] (Hmm.. I'll retry the description, as it wasn't clear to Rowyn.) [The demon dematerialized into smoke that was concentrated around Raleigh's leg. Raleigh, is a girl in her teens in a long skirt with long sleaves. Her hair is black and her apperance is on the pretty side of normal.] [She stepped out of the smoke and the humanoid demon then reformed in front of her.] [It continues to be murky and feature-less] * Jonathon shakes his head and doesn't necessarily look too happy at the moment. He takes his camera. "I don't like bloody nosy people." He tries to avoid aiming the thing at Derk as he slips on his shades and lets the flash burn with a loud Fwoomph. (Flash bulb) [The creature and the hound get scorched by the attack. Raleigh avoids that. However, all three are temporarily blinded. It's most obvious in Raleigh's case as she's actively blinking.] [The hound howls and holds its turn in confusion.] [Saldin] * Saldin turns her gaze to the murky thing and puts on a very thin smile. And then turns to Murky, eyes glowing, regarding it with seriousness. [The form is familar to Saldin, albiet not the same creature he previously encountered.] [Hound presently holding turn. Derk still singing but looking fairly confused.] [Saldin exorcism hits!] [And Ran'Ch'Om is hit by the force of Saldin's exorcism. The demon bristles under the attack.] * Saldin 's amulet and eyes flash in unison as she stares down the Murky thing. Bristle all it wants! I apologize for Ran'Ch'Om's unprofessionally. Hound dismissed! Runa silkfoot I demand my boon! [Raleigh backs up towards the large windows as eight giant spider legs grow out of her back. Her clothes adapt naturally to them, as if by magic. She gets to the window this round.] [The hound howls and then fades out. This fading is a good sight more peaceful than the abrupt vanishing caused by exorcism.] * Joonathon points the gun at them still. "Is that so? Is that why you would attack a musician in his apartment then?" (Jonathon isn't behind Saldin, yes?) (Doubtful. He needs to be fully in the apartment to be effective.) * Ran'Ch'Om turns to Jonathon. ~Irrelevant. The meddler is gone. Vengence is all that matters.~ [Jonathon, give me that defense roll again.] For what? * Saldin replies in an eerie tone, "Old business." ~Quite. Vampire, attack, for what little you're worth.~ * Derk looks rather offended by that and shrugs off the command. Jonathon feels a bit woozy, but doesn't suffer any other apparent affects from the telepathy. [Jonathon's turn!] [And Jonathon, give me a visual awareness roll.] [And a mind check, +4] [Jonathon then notes that the room looks indescribably odd. A second later he realizes why as he breaks the mental control and realizes that for the past few seconds he could have sworn Ran'Ch'Om was standing where Saldin is now and vice versa.] [Dodged that bullet.] (Ha.) [Jonathon!] * Jonathon shakes his head and smirks slightly, letting his camera hang. "Nice try." He goes running for the real Ran'Ch. "Care for another go?" He slides underneath, one leg kicking out at his leg to knock him over as he twists around on his back and fires up from underneath as he slides past. * Ran'Ch'Om is completely surprised by that attack and is way too late in his attempts to dodge out of the way. He seems like he's about half as healthy as he could be.] [Saldin's turn (exorcism delay doesn't matter)] * Saldin holds up the amulet, still, and walks towards the demon, amulet stoill flashing. "And it will be finished soon." [The demon weakens considerably but still manages to hold on. ~That it will be, how much more damage can you tolerate, monk?] * Raleigh takes no part in the battle. She turns around as she reaches the window and four of the spider legs grab a hold of a large window frame and easily push it out. The other four legs navigate Raleigh outside as she still holds the frame. The spider-girl returns the window to its position and then skitters down.] [Jonathon, meanwhile, is suddenly surrounded by darkness as the demon moves to attack him once again.] [The darkness surrounds Jonathon but not equally in all directions. The darkest portion seems to be towards the door of the apartment. The thinnest to the windows. For damage purposes, attacking the thin bit may break you out faster, but would hurt the creature less.] [Jonathon!] [The darkness seems quite viscous. It has substance and isn't just a cloud.] * Jonathon stops for a moment, moving his pistol about, then smiles slightly. "These tricks don't suit you. Come out and play, old bean." He draws his bead on where he hears the sound coming from and fires almost blindly into the darkness. [Saldin, give me a soul (luck) roll.] * Ran'Ch'Om laughs in your heads. ~Don't they?~ Jonathon doesn't realize it, but the demon had pulled the telepathicly swap position trick again. Fortunately for Saldin, Ran'Ch was counting on Jonathon using the camera instead of the gun. As a result, the darkness absorbs half the damage from the shot. Unfortunately for Saldin, despite the critter having a larger sound profile than Saldin, Jonathon happened to be aiming low.] [Thankfully, Jonathon is using low-penetrating ammunition, so by the time the attack reaches Saldin, it only splashes her. That still hurts, but only for 10 damage.] [Derk sings.] [Saldin!] * Saldin hisses and yells out, "It cannot affect you when you are behind me!" Then the amulet flashes. Through the darkness, even! [Jonathon doesn't realize the manner of his misfire, due to the telepathy. This affect will last as long as the telepathy is active.] [Which is to say, Jonathon now realizes the nature of his mistake.] * Ran'Ch'Om raises his arms and screaches as the darkness fades away and the mental influence over Jonathon breaks. * Jonathon looks about to see if anything's left, muttering, "This is getting pretty bleeding embarrassing." [The sound of the screaching reverberates in your mind. ~I am sorry sister.~ [Then Ran'Ch'Om broadcasts no more and is completely sealed by the amulet. No new curse affects for Saldin as it would be redundant.] (Aww.) Well, that was unpleasant. Thanks for the help, remind me to find more literally minded neighbors. * Saldin gets one last glowing flash and then exhales, looking around the room. Chances are likely she finds nothing! [She does indeed. Careful checking reveals no hangers on.] * Jonathon puts his gun away. "Do you really think the police could have helped though?" Session Time: Mon Jun 19 00:00:00 2006 * Derk shrugs. "I expect that SAB's top priest would make sure that any police sent to my home would have supernatural backup." * Jonathon sighs and adjusts his coat. "Did you know them?" * Saldin runs a hand over herself, to feel the burn, as it were, and says cautiously, "Burning and yet not. Odd." The girl tricked me into letting her in. I don't know how she found my address, but she sounded like she needed my help. After that the Ram'Ch creature went trhough my memory. I though she left, but apparently that was a trick. I've been here for a few hours just keeping those dogs at bay. * Jonathon looks at Saldin. "I think we have found our trackers." * Saldin looks up at Jonathon, naked as a burning jaybird. "Mmm?" She glances down to find her clothes and then goes to see if she can pick them up. * Jonathon looks back to Derk. "I actually came to warn you, but I think we got here too late. They must have noticed our transaction together then. Am I right?" * Derk nods. "I'm afraid so. Thanks for coming though. I don't think she wanted to kill me, but she seemed willing if it was necessary." * Jonathon nods and smiles. "Mael is smart. She offered to arrange places to meet, but she never told exactly where she was hiding. Perhaps for the best." Even so, I think we should find them next. And arrange for you to lie low for a bit, Mister Johnson. [Saldin's flames largely flow up. That and her lightfootedness seem to minimize the affect of the smoldering on the floor. Even so, when she stands somewhere a while, singe marks are left. She can hold the robes, but they slow show signs of burning where she holds them and will probably light on fire if she keeps it up.] [Appropriate materials should be able to resolve that problem.] * Saldin looks at them for a moment and then says in a bemused manner, "I think I will have a hard time conforming to local decency statutes." [More durable items such as the amulet are unaffected unless Saldin is actively trying to attack them.] * Jonathon finally looks over at Saldin and a faint smirk crosses his lips. "Indeed. Shall I call SAB and see if they can deliver something flame retardant?" * Derk glances over. "Oh my yes. Well, if anyone sees you leave I'll expect some interesting new rumors regarding my lifestyle." I thought you lived for the publicity. I'm not put out. Just making an observation. * Jonathon takes out his cell and makes the call. * Saldin glances between the two of them before saying, "It is all right. I am sure if my natural state is what the world wishes to see, it will see it." ( The Universe Decrees that you not be so pruddish.) [Jonathon makes the appropriate arrangements.] (Anything else before we end?) (Don't think so on my end. He's also arranging witness protection stuff for Derk while he can.) (But that can be all off-screen.) (Snicker.) (Heh) [End!]