The large orc pulls savagely at one of the stubby pillars holding up the roof in the centre of the bakery. It comes free in his hands, the wooden boards splintering as he removes a large section.
The wooden covering extends for only an inch or so into the structure, judging from the jut of pillar remaining. The interior,where you would expect to find mundane building materials, is a mess of tendrils and pale flesh. The exposed portion of the building's interior does not bleed, but the tendrils twitch pathetically as they are snapped, the still-rooted ends gong limp after a few seconds.
John... you have a horrible feeling that you might be right.
, you hear Jack enter the bakery below as you head up the stairs. The second floor looks to be a long corridor, lined with wooden doors, and with another set of stairs leading upwards at the far end of the building.
, the last thing you see on the street before ducking into the house is the blunt-faced creature climbing round the wall of the crossroads n the distance, heading in your direction.
Go's back down and tells the others what is up there, then stops at the sight of the flesh.
"Well that's tells us where we are, and also give us a way out, this things as an inside full of wood, But that can burn, Time to start a fire, Jack could you pull off as much wood as you can, we need to burn this flesh, hurt this thing. Make it spit us back out. I can see not other way out than to make it throw us out. We need to look around the rooms and get every thing that can burn."
She start to place the fire embers around the base of the exposed flesh to see what it dos.
"Lets teach this thing is not a good idea to eat things like us"
"Uh guys, that creature that attacked the others is coming straight for us." Baldwin pulls some more wood off of the walls. "We might want to hurry."
Jack shrugs, gestures at three-teeth and starts levering chunks off the walls.
"He was the first one into this thing"
Roger looks at John and says in a low voice "I'm sure that you just followed me. That's why Tarun and I have been living here for the past couple of days and nearly freezing our butts off."
Watching Jack start to rip apart the building, Roger says quietly "good thing you're not trying to make it mad, right?" and then to the insinuation that he's not himself, Roger says in a hushed tone "I'm me, and I know that you and the nobs are you because you're a bunch of pansy little girls. well, maybe not you, half-savage, but the rest of you, sure."
There is a large thump, sounding like it comes from several floors above you. You pause in your dismantling for a second to listen and hear that clicking, ticking noise again, echoing down the hallways and stairs to the main room of the bakery that you're standing in.
Sallrana, you have a stack of usable wood outside in the street that you ensured was available on your arrival, as well as a few still-burning brands that are the remains of the bonfire Jack threw - but the flames on them give little light, and not as much heat as they should.
If you get the wood you've stored outside, you have enough to build a fire. You can also smash some of the furnishings of the room you're in to get some wood.
Roger looks at the group then whispers "we need to make no noise until the thing leaves. then we can move to where Tarun is at."
"We have to go outside any way to the wood."
Roger watches the group sneak out into the night, then sighs, picks up his a piece of wood, waits for the creature to make noise above him and then tries to quietly open the door
propping the door open, he chucks the wood into the building as hard as he can and then quietly lets the door close and as quickly as he can moves to the nearest doorway motioning for the group to find a place to hide.
Picks up what wood she can on the way.
Baldwin just stood calmly trying to not breath too loudly.
Apparently he wasn't doing a good job of that.
The windows of the bakery, which had a second ago looked out onto the dark street, show you something entirely different for a fraction of a second - the deck of a ship, chalk circles and runes drawn onto the floor, and a host of chirurgeons and what you take to be students of the arcane (an oddity to see so many together) that seem to waiting for something, all arrayed around the chalk circles.
The image remains for a few seconds, no more, and then the drab street returns.
You hear a thump and then the sounds of soft movement above you, from several floors up. It is possible that the shadowed thing from the street has forced itself into the building above you...
Baldwin's already loud breathing got a little faster as he brought the heels of his hands up to press into his eyes. He was seeing things again, or perhaps just remembering what had brought them here. It still didn't make any sense. Then it was gone, though the headache that came with it lingered on.
Then the thump startled him enough that he jumped slightly and then tried to quiet his breathing once again.
Baldwin followed the others quickly, ignoring the lingering pain in his head and the raised hairs on the back of his neck.
The street is quiet once more - far to the left of you, another group similar to your own is also entering the street, although with noticeably fewer members now. Above you there is a flicker of movement, what might be the tip of a tail disappearing into the darkness of the building you've just left. To the right of you...
The street seems to end after only a hundred feet or so, a bank of slow-moving fog approaching you. Dark shapes are half visible within it, large hulking presences that reach the fourth or fifth floor of the surrounding buildings.
, you left Tarun in a building about two hundred feet to the left - the coast looks clear for now.
Baldwin is too preoccupied with following the others, and trying to organize his own thoughts, to notice anything other than the fog. Something wasn't right with this place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
There is a clatter as she drops the fire wood
"hells balls!!"
She makes up her mind, the others need a chance
"Right get the Orc, if this thing is trying to now eat the ghost ships then we may have a chance, get out the way we came in, wile it's feeding, eating a ships going to be hard, get the Orc and head into the fog, this maybe out one chance to get out. If this works I'll see you on the other side"
The calling out the the darkness
"HHOOOAAALLOO!!
Before any one can stop her, Sallrana plummets into the fog and what ever is beyond them after her.
Roger motions in the direction of the building that is currently housing Tarun. "This way" he whispers, while making his way towards the building that Tarun was in.
......
Roger watches as Sallrana charges off into the fog, and immediately finds a doorway to hide in, as she most likely will attract the attention of the creature. He then motions for the rest of the party to do the same.
You plunge into the fog, ducking between the large ship-like shapes and feel the unmistakeable charge of unbridled puissance over your skin, a trickle of magical potential that becomes a flood... do you continue moving forward?
You watch Sallrana disappear into the advancing fog, the darker shapes within flickering and shifting in size in a way that makes your eyes ache.
Roger, shaking his head at the perceived foolishness of Sallrana's actions, slips into the doorway of the nearest house, followed by the rest of the party - John hanging back slightly, one hand almost stretching for his disappearing comrade before he too sprints for the shadows.
After a few tense moments of silence the loud clicking noise sounds again, from inside the building that you just vacated, and there is a dull thump as a section of dislodged masonry breaks open on the cobbles outside.
The building you've ducked into seems to be a hotel of some kind, a reception area and bar taking up the majority o the ground floor and wide set of stairs leading upwards.
::"HexQin are you feeling stronger"::
She try's to bring up, energy splash, making light in front of her to see what happens,
Dos she have her powers back?
Jack grinds his teeth - still Sallrana's plan is all they have. Whatever happens, they need Tarun.
Still holding the dead orc, Jack moves quietly behind Roger.
Just thought she's not going to go that much more in she will jink left to the wall the others where heading to but light up where she would have gone. It's all done to if her powers are back up. If they are she's still linked to Jack and can call them in, If not she may have go back to the others as they are head hitters. She has her gun out.
This is my thinking
, you recognise this place - you've sheltered here for a time before with Tarun, but you don't remember it being here - you remember it as being on the second floor of a building on the other side of the street.
The street outside seems quiet once again - until a great rending, tearing noise sounds from outside and brickwork and timber scatter down from above.
'I think one of them's coming through...' '...the lady, the elf...' '...been hours, transport shouldn't have...' 'Silvermoon, her name was...' '' '... is that thing, is that...'
|
Once the others are secured, john says to jack I'm going after shallrana. I'll be back when I can. As he is about to go he hears the crash and sees the flash of light. I'll be back when I can pistol out, john takes off in the direction of the flash and into the fog, moving quickly but as quietly as he can.
move 60 feet
John, your movement toward the fog is not as stealthy as you'd hoped.
As the thing passes she's already moving,
Spinning around she heads after the thing that passed her, Her mind reaching out to where it had just gone and the others.
now she can hear the voices she follows it.
@Jack
::"JACK IF YOU HEAR ME BRING THE OTHERS FAST THERE IS A GATE OUT HERE BUT NOT OPEN FOR LONG"::
Baldwin looked around the room. "Where's Tarun? I want to look him over."
Looking in the direction of the fog, Roger notices the flash of light and sees the thing go tearing off after it. Stupid nob is gonna get me killed thinks Roger before roaring and charging after the creature, shouting "here beast, come and get your sweet meat!"
Jack nudges Baldwin and the nameless orc, points to the building Roger indicated and obviously gets ready to run
'... and she's through, one is better than none! Close the damn thing and be done with it!'
'Close it? There are four other people in there who represent a significant investment, Mr Yeoving, and in case you'd forgotten they are also still alive! We can't just... just... snuff them out!'
, as you charge toward the fog the east comes barreling out to meet you -
, Roger has pointed you in the direction of the building in which Tarun resides - what do you do? A single turn of sprinting will get you there, but you'll be leaving Roger to battle the creature alone. Then again, that was obviously what he had planned for by creating the distraction to let you get there safely, and if you don't go his reckless but useful action will go unrewarded.
Sallrana looks around blinded by the light, HexQin that the stars is feeding her information again, 'Ship, men literature technicians, armed me, and the gate way.
she hears what they say and says as she gets up.
"Close the Dam gate, you have no idea what that thing can do, the others are lost,fools running around looking for some sick orc, they will be hours, that place is vast. The shade will probably get all of them as it did the others. Close the GATE before it take this whole ship and any one on it!! close the gate now you fools! THE OTHERS ARE LOST, CLOSE THE GATE OR WE ARE ALL DEAD!!!"
She stands backing away from the gate letting her face show fear for all to see.
"No amount of money can be worth the HORROR!! that thing will do to you, wait for the others and you will all be eaten."
She runs below deck screaming
Sallrana looks around blinded by the light, HexQin that the stars is feeding her information again, 'Ship, men literature technicians, armed me, and the gateway.
she hears what they say and says as she gets up. putting her dark glasses back on.
"DON'T you dare close that Dam gate!! There coming, the others are NOT lost, they where just behind me running from some shade, but they are coming, they just need time."
She pulls out the spike dagger that had light cast on it, it its shining again, she will throw it in, if not she will fire her gun into the gate.
"Once they get past the shade they will be coming throw, so get ready, that is unless you wish to tell your bosses, o bakers, you throw all that money away. Now to arms gets yet yourselves ready"
She has out her sword and gun.
All her noble blood showing, at this moment in time, she commands here.
She trys to send to jack again but hes to far away now,
Jack, you make up your mind and make a break for possible redemption, smashing straight through the front door of the building that Roger indicated as he turned to face the creature and finding yourself in a large foyer area. You can see a few rooms off to the side, but instinct tells you to head up the nearby set of spiral stairs...
'Believe me, ms Silvermoon, we are trying, but we don't know what's happened - this kind of arcane application is experimental, as new to us as your limbs are to you, and we lost you somewhere in there for a few hours. By the time we'd focused on young Vanchester again and tried to... to fish you out of wherever you ended up, something fundamental had changed. We just don't know enough about this kind of eldritch application to account for a change in parameters! The gate is... leaking... and we're doing our best to keep it open, but the boys are flagging'. The mustachioed man gestures at the mages, and he's not lying. They're pale, their faces set in pained concentration. You've never seen a ritual like this before.