Reaching into her shawl, Kishan pulls out Jarrod's loaded shotgun, as well as Gram, struggling to hold all three objects in her slender hands. Once she has them balanced, she holds them ready to pass to her companions, should the need arise.
She keeps her eyes on her surroundings as she moves, not rushing her actions and adjusting her grip by feel, in order to keep herself alert, and her eyes on the dangers. She risks a look at Thiel, trying to read his face, and see whether he looks surprised or annoyed by this turn of events, or if he might have been expecting it.
Thiel seems calm. His breathing is slow. He doesn't look confused or even surprised.
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"Oh, no sir, no heroics from me, no siree," Jarred said as he slowly knelt down onto the floor. Placing his hands behind his head, he angled himself so that they were open to Kishan. "So, it's about Thiel, was it? I must say, if that's all you wanted, there were much better opportunities for this little get together. Why not let the other people go, they don't have anything to do with your beef with the big man."
"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that. Now, everyone be good boys and everything will be alright."
With that, the mercs drag the security men into Bates, leaving the three of you temporarily unattended.
"All right. Plans, anyone? We could try sneaking off. Blend in, see what these guys are up to. Follow and see where they take Thiel?"
Kishan's whispered voice comes out of the ether, "Did they really just leave us alone? What kind of hostage takers are these? Well? I can extend my veil to cover all of us, and you can take your weapons, though they are likely to notice you've disappeared, but who knows what they'll do about it."
"Do you have any illusion spells? You could maybe make it look like we're both still here, hands over our head on the floor."
"I do, but I can't maintain both the illusion and the veil at the same ti..." She trails off, her voice indicating that she just thought of something.
"Wait, maybe I can."
She becomes visible again, snapping back into existence in the empty chamber. She quickly hands Aaron his sword, and Jarrod his shotgun, and then hold out her own sword for one of them to hold while she concentrates.
"Magic can do all sorts of crazy things. If I can fix their purpose in mind, and impart the image with a degree of intent, I can create an illusion that can maintain itself for a time, without my concentration."
Simulacrum: Illusion 4 (All Senses) (Continuous, Independent, Total Fade; Slow Fade 4)
She looks over each of her companions, and fixing that image in her mind, adds to it a representation of her own appearance. In the next instance, six people stand in the room where there were only three a moment before. She looks at the images, and smiling to herself, nods in satisfaction. She then takes her own sword back from Jarrod, and concentrates a moment, filling it with a measure of her will. She then concentrates again, extending her will around her, and then only three figures stand in the room once again.
Turning to her friends, and this time speaks in a regular register, "I've included sound in the veil this time, so you can speak and move regularly. The illusions should last a few hours, and should act and react fairly normally. They are constructions not only of light, but also of air and force, so the hoods will be even be able to touch and move them if need be. They can't really learn anything new, but I've imprinted the instruction for them to act like normal people, so this 'Aaron' will bleed and get hurt a little more naturally than you might. Providing they are not hit by daybreak, or doused with running water, they should cover our absence rather neatly. As for you gentlemen, keep in mind that if you feel the need to intervene in the situation, there will probably be uninformed mortals in the crowd, so think it through before lifting any cars or breathing fire, OK?"
With that, she moves back from the illusions of herself, Aaron, and Jarrod, so that anyone that moves towards them doesn't accidentally trip over her, unseen. She hefts her sword, testing her grip and it's balance as was her habit, but then also dug the automatic out of her coat's pocket. The ancient device strikes quite a figure, it's boxy shape in one hand, an ornate sword in the other, all while dressed for a ball in a glistening gown.
She checks her weapon, making sure she loaded with her steel jacket rounds instead of the typical copper headed ones. "Aaron, with the Fomor present, I'd recommend loading with steel, if you haven't already. Given the presence of hostages, I'd also recommend slugs as opposed to buckshot."
"I'm ALWAYS loaded with steel." Aaron says, patting Gram and sporting a cheeky smile.
"Oh wait, you meant Jarrod."
Kishan rolls her eyes at Aaron before turning her attention back towards the doors.
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Tearing his eyes off of the image of his body kneeling down on the floor, Jarrod nodded and slung his ammo belt around his waist, clashing horribly with his old suit. Digging into one of the pockets, he loaded up the shotgun with pure iron slugs. "Right, slugs for the fishmen and terrorists. This should be fun. Might even be like, dare I say it, shooting fish in a barrel," he said, trying to lighten the mood for a moment.
Aaron groans and slaps a palm to his face.
The man on the stage continues, "Ladies and Gentlemen, patrons of the arts and sciences, we stand tonight in one of the world's great libraries. Collections of knowledge stretch back through human history. New York, London, Raza, Paris, Tianyi, Rome, Alexandria, the Egyptian Hall of Records. Knowledge meticulously collected. Sometimes lost. Lost knowledge. That is what we are here for tonight. You are going to help us regain something we have lost. Or rather, something that was hidden from us. Something those who would style themselves as gods would keep from us. But it is going to take some work on our part, on your part..."
He pauses, and a single shot breaks the silence. You can't see it, but you hear the soft thud of a bullet hitting flesh, and the crumple of a person to the floor.
"S$*#, what happened? Did someone go for a gun?"
"We need to move in, get a better vantage point. Preferably one where we can drop that guy if we need to."
"There, you see. How easily death comes for any one of us. One moment, there is an ineffable spark, the animus that brings meaning to the pile of matter that we call our bodies. How easily that link is broken. But tonight, we will reforge that link. Tonight we will take back our birthright."
At that, you hear movement from the stairs. And at the same time, two of the mercenaries drag Thiel back into your vision, toward the room you are in.
From the staircase emerges a squad of men, all dressed head to toe in tactical gear. They carry no weapons, though one of them has a heavy canvas duffle. Twelve of them, in ranks two by two, come into the room. They move with a preternatural sense of purpose, and you notice that they walk through Kishan's illusory figures as if they can't see them.
