Igor brings his crossbow to bear on the little spell-caster and fires.
Azeban narrows his eyes as he dodges the Rogue's attacks, pausing only long enough to line up another shot and slip another cartridge into his weapon.
The rogue collapses to the gunfire, crumpling into a twitching heap and making a worrying, wheezing noise.
Arden raised his eyebrow at the fall of the second rogue, but simply shrugged and cast Murderous Command on Farash with a smile.
Farash's face twists in a confused fury before he turns and sweeps toward his allies with his halberd...
Igor squeaks in fear as Farash turns and takes a slash at a friend . What was his friend doing! Was Farash a friend, or a invader? What was that magic that went off? His hands shake as be loads his crossbow.
The automaton pays no attention as Farash's halberd cleaves into its side in a shower of splinters. It simply continues following out its directive, attempting again to attack the gnome.
, ,
As his machine continues to carry out its work, Victor reloads his crossbow and moves up next to Igor. "What's going on?" he calls over the noise. "I thought he was on our side!"
Igor just looks up and shrugs as his string clicks into place. The fear is evident in the little blue goblin's eyes.
Azeban turns from the collapsed rogue just in time to see Farash take a swing at the Automaton. 'Not good, not good.' he thinks as he charges across the battlefield, trying to line up a better shot at the Gnome.
Sienna gets into the gnome's space, attempting to stab him but failing to hit her mark this time.
The now wounded gnome backs up, laughing and giggling to himself. "Oh how the mighty strike at each other! It is such fun to see. In fact, let's see it again!"
He waves his hands and chants quietly under his breath for a moment, and Sienna feels a tickling at the back of the mind.
Sienna turns to look at the tiny gunslinger, before striking out with her rapier at him, barely missing him.
Suddenly, Sienna is attacking Azeban! What was this! Is Victor his only friend? Igor's internal cool bursts into flame. In a fully blown panic, he screams for George with all his might. Ectoplasm starts pouring in from the nether regions between the planes and forming a humanoid shape just behind the gnome.
"Get...outta...my...head!!!" shouts Farash, horrified by the gnomes mental incursion and appalled by his own slice into Victor's mechipede.
He resists the urge to throw his halberd away and crash-tackle the midget malificent and masters himself for another swing, throwing all of his might into a murderous swipe:
Cool. Do I cut my own foot off?
As Sienna's sword hits the ground right next to him, Azeban panics. Having a vague understanding of what's happening now, he lines up a shot at the Gnome, hoping to end this once and for all.
The gnome grinned and bowed. "Well, you mauled my playmates, so I think I'll leave you with your newly forged trust issues. Have very merry day!" The gnome bolted for the building and slipped through the door.
Gone in a flash, you hear only the sounds of distant fighting. Arden doesn't close the door behind him, however, leaving the option of pursuit tantalizingly obvious.
Farash gives chase, yelling in incoherent rage all the while.
The redhead also follows after him, though not nearly as emotionally expressive as Farash.
Igor stands frozen, his screaming suddenly silenced and his spell effected dismissed. Mauled his companions? But he should have two more, Farash and Sienna. So they aren't on his side? But then they follow the little demon into the dorm.
Igor is so utterly confused right at this moment that he can only look to victor for some semblance of direction.
The inside of the hall is cool and dark, dust moats sparkling in the sunlight from the windows. The hall has seen some fighting, with hastily erected barricades at the exists. A door to the east at the back of the hall and a double door to the west are both covered, but the large main stair way is free of blockages.
There is no sign obvious signs of any gnomish sorcerers.
Igor follows closely to Azeban, one of the two people he is certain won't try to kill him.
Victor shrugs apologetically. "Don't look at me, little buddy. I don't know what's going on, either." Motioning for his automaton to follow him, he slowly starts heading to the main stairway.
Farash takes a moment to calm down and scan the room for gnomish sorcerers, or anything out of the ordinary that might be a gnomish sorcerer pretending to be a gnomish-sorceror-as-something-else.
Seeing nothing, Farash heads down/up (?) the main stairway.
Azeban smiles reassuringly at the small goblin as they walk through the halls, searching for the gnome or signs of anything else awry. He keeps his sword drawn, prepared for any surprises.
The automaton's wooden feet clack against the floor as it walks, head sweeping shakily from side to side, eye slits staring blankly ahead. Victor swallows nervously, keeping one hand near the machine, stroking it slightly every few seconds. "Does anyone see anything?" he asks, voice cracking to a hoarse whisper.
Igor swallows hard in an attempt to get rid of a lump that's threatening to choke him, to no avail. He shakes his head in responce to Victor's question instead.
Azeban raises a small hand, stopping the others. He sniffs the air for a moment, trying to verify what he thinks he sees. He silently points out the tuft of red hair to the others, and quietly draws his gun.
Igor prepares to cast... something. He can't see what Azeban is pointing to, but raised hands outside class, in his experience, usually directly preceded pain.
Azeban looks at his comrades and gives a quick wink. Launching into a complicated series of somersaults, he lands near what he suspects to be the gnome and points his gun directly at it. Pausing only long enough to verify the sorcerer's identity, he pulls the trigger into it.
With Farash at the the top of the stairs leading to the 1st floor Azeban dives next to the gnome. He sees the startled face of Arden turn towards him before he pulls the trigger, the shot hitting the gnome directly in the head. He collapses backwards with a gash in his head leaking blood.
The gunshot resounds around the building, echoing and reverberating.
Farash runs back down the stairs to see the mess. He stifles the urge to puke, and gathers his wits.
"He took control of my mind! He was in my f#(king head!….." He looks from face to face of his classmates, searching for doubt or opprobrium.
"And there's something upstairs. I heard something!" His voice is almost shrill, as if breaking under the strain.
Igor squeaks a little. This whole situation is way over his head. Where are teachers when you need them! They bore you for years without end and they they're not here when you need them!
Igor nods at Farash, but can't seem to tear his big, round eyes off the spreading pool of blood. He manages to squeak at Azeban Is the thing you shot... Dead?
Sienna walks over to where Azeban has fired his extremely noisy weapon. She looks down at the gnome, before stabbing him in the face with her rapier.
Seven times.
She wipes her blade on the little man's clothes, before turning to look at the raccoonkin, pointing at his gun. "lOuD," She rasps, before heading away to the double doors in the west.
Farash watches with ardour as the girl completes her task.
Like a beautiful insect of some kind... such precise movements. And deadly!
He watches her head off. Shakes his head.
"Sienna. Wait! Stop for a moment." Farash racks his brain, searching his memory, remembering his favorite pulp books, Diggles, Dangerous Tome for Delinquents, Robbing Hood, Bomb Soyer and An Aperion, Cranky, in Lord Marthur's Court. He looks again from face to face struggling to get a grip, the sound of gunfire and men's (and ladies) screams a sharp background to this darkened room of stench and death.
"Aren't we going to check him for secret orders or cryptic messages or something? Plus... I definitely heard something upstairs!"
"Hey, hey. Calm down, big guy." Victor nudges Farash, trying to ease his restlessness. "Okay, we'll search him, then check out what you heard, okay?" Crouching next to Azeban, he mutters, "Nice shot. I wouldn't have had the guts to do that." He then begins patting the corpse down, stomach turning, checking his clothes and pockets.
Azeban is silent as Sienna criticizes his weapon, simply staring at the body with blood leaking out of it. The wounds that he had made, that Sienna had made, held his vision with a strong magnetism. Azeban had certainly intended to kill the Gnome, but it wasn't like he had imagined it would be. "Nice shot." He echoes Victor while the man searches the body, wondering whether it would get easier.
Igor inches over to stand near Victor and Azeban. He's still not convinced that Farash and Sienna won't try to gut him. He also does his best to not look at the dead gnome or step in anything. He feels like today has already lasted forever, even though it has been only a short time since the first bomb shattered his world.
When Farash's noise is investigated, he will follow the group near the rear.
A loud sound rings out. However, this one seems to be from further into the rear of the ground floor. It sounds almost like a muffled gunshot, but Azeban especially realizes there's something not quite...right.
"That came from this level! Where's Sienna?"
Sienna looks coolly at the brute, keeping the tip of her rapier pointed at the ground. She pauses only long enough to listen, before going back towards her destination. Opening the double doors, she heads on through them silently - alone if the others don't follow.
Azeban's head pops up from looking at the corpse when he hears the sound. His already beady eyes narrow slightly and his nose starts twitching as it tries to pick up scents. Throwing a quick glance at Igor, he notices that the little goblin still looks terrified, and now queasy, too. He decides not to mention how much the sound worries him. "Come on," he urges reassuringly with a forced smile, "Someone could need help." Without waiting for Igor, he begins to scamper towards the sound, his ears twitching with effort.
Igor nods at Azeban and stays close, motioning for Victor to do the same. Of all the people and things in the world, these two were keeping it all together for him. Well, what little was keeping together, anyway. At least he wasn't screaming and crying...yet... That feeling was definitely there though. It wormed it way around like a snake in his gut and tried to choke him once in a while, but a good hard swallow seemed to keep in check. It also felt good to have his crossbow cocked and ready. And George. There was George.
Sienna, you enter what is obviously the student dining room. Long, tressle tables and padded wooden benches sit in the rooms, there ancient wood polished to a shine. A doorway to the north is blocked only by a half-door, and you can see a kitchen shining beyond, the dark marble surfaces covered in partially prepared food.
As the rest of you open the north eastern door you're faced with a long corridor. A door right next to the door you entered from, facing north, seems a likely candidate for investigating the sound. Another door futher down the corridor might also be an option. Two doors between, both facing south, have brass plates on the stained wooden doors, although you can't read them from here.