The man shuts the door in Joseph's face, locking it securely.
Amadeus watches with frank interest as Joseph is rebuked by the butler. "Poor lad. No real experience in pretending, really."
Assuming that Anatoly was able to procure a quantity of fireworks, he'll begin setting them about the area outside the property, in the most attention getting fashion.
Explosives with a 3-point spend.
After their brief foray into Chinatown, Evelyn will go around the perimeter of the house, leaving Anatoly to his work. Recalling that Freddy and Amadeus intended to scope out the site, she keeps a lookout for them.
Anatoly is carefully creeping about the place, pockets full of fireworks and planning the distraction. He tries desperately to forget what he saw earlier in the day. While everyone else carefully considers the angle of approach, young Mr. Westmore climbs into the rental car and guns it straight into the front of the house!
The car crashes through the front door, tires squealing, glass breaking and metal crushing from the impact. Joseph rolls from the open door into the grass, taking a few bruises and a gash from the flying glass.
From the servant entrance, a large Mexican man in a suit runs out to see what the commotion is, reaching for a pistol under his jacket. In the smoke and ruin of the house, you can see at least two people moving- one of which is likely to be Walker, Trammel's right hand man.
The Mexican guard that ran out of the house trains his pistol on Joseph.
"HANDS UP! HANDS UP! I SHOOT!"
Somehow, Freddys eyes widen more and his jaw manages to drop a little further. "Ha! Wow, this kid has some spunk, huh Amadeus?!" Freddy kisses the crucifix on his necklace and looks over to Amadeus. "Well, looks like it's showtime pal! Maybe we should start in the back, looking for an entrance straight to the basement? We never really found anything when we were down there, but it seemed huge."
Freddy hops out of the car, directly toward the man with the gun, proving in Amadeus' mind that he is insane. Amadeus splutters for a moment, then sighs, deflating. He follows after, nearly bent double to stay as low as he can, muttering to himself about the damn fools he's been cursed to enjoy as comrades.
"Let's head toward the solarium. Less people and if it's locked, I can probably pick it."
Running down the hill Freddy and Amadeus run into Dr. Malley who was looking for them when Joseph decided to crash the party at the mansion.
"What on earth was that?" Evelyn asks Amadeus and Freddy regarding the commotion in front of the house, but she quickly shakes her head, deciding to keep the question rhetorical. "Never mind. Anatoly was working on a distraction to help some of us get into the place, but it looks like we already have one. We should get a move on - I know which books Trammel got from Echavarria."
Joseph charges the man with the gun, who unsurprisingly tries to shoot him.
The guard fires his pistol straight into Joseph's shoulder. After a moment's numbness, pain courses from the wound, like a thousand stinging ants. The wealthy playboy's vision swims, knees almost buckling.
Bellowing and cursing in a decidedly ungentlemanly fashion, Westmore cracks the man on the side of the head with the twisted metal bar, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Anatoly is shocked to hear the explosion from the front door... and even more surprised to see Joseph go down. Knowing the plan is now a bit... well...
Anatoly decides at this time it's probably better to get Joseph out of harms way before setting off his distraction.
He runs to his wounded comrade. "Come on. That was brave... and a bit... well let's get you to a safe place and see if we can still pull this off".
Anatoly looks for a safe place to place Joseph, and work on his wound before returning to the scene.
First Aid (3-point spend)
Anatoly pulls Joseph away to the only place that might offer cover and concealment- the carriage house. In a corner away from the windows and doors, he pulls out his kit and works on prying out that pesky bullet.
Freddy, Amadeus, Evelyn and Ralph run back to the property, the car smoking in the ruined front entrance. Lights are coming on in the cul-de-sac, dogs barking from the commotion in the dead of night. But the Trammel house seems quiet...
"My god man! A car crash, and a shooting within one day. You do live an exciting life".
Sense Trouble.
Evelyn briefly eyes the billowing smoke but saunters on wordlessly, intent on entering the mansion undetected.
I creep alongside the rest of the group, saddened by the seeming loss of the crucifix. Hopefully it may be salvaged, though not at this moment with so many guards at the car.
"My god man! A car crash, and a shooting within one day. You do live an exciting life".
1d6+3 Sense Trouble.
Working on Westmore in the dark carriage house, Anatoly does the best he can with the limited supplies he has and knowing that there are men nearby that want them both dead.
What impressions remain of his childhood memories fleeing his homeland has given Anatoly a sense for danger- which is why, even distracted as he is, he can hear the sound of footsteps in the wet grass outside and onto the asphalt driveway. He hurriedly ties off Joseph's bandage- it'll have to be enough for now.
Evelyn briefly eyes the billowing smoke but saunters on wordlessly, intent on entering the mansion undetected.
With smoke pouring from the front of the house and the sound of gunfire from the opposite side, the path to the Conservatory entrance is uncontested. The four of you slink through the chilling Pasadena night to the doorway of the glass-walled conservatory, Freddy making short work of the lock with his picks. Looking in, you can see the door to the study slightly ajar, a man half-dressed in slacks and an undershirt hurriedly filling a suitcase.
Amadeus and Freddy immediately recognize him, both from the basement earlier today and the safe deposit box photos from Henslowe's safe: Samson Trammel himself.
Freddy aims his Colt .45 at Trammel and speaks firmly. "Veeeery slowly put your hands up and away from that briefcase Mr Trammel."
Amadeus wheezes a bit as he half bends over, catching his breath. "Better... do... as.. he says, Mister Trammel. He's been itching to shoot a man. You bleed as well as anyone." He grimaces as the still fresh wound in his side begins to bleed a bit through the bandage.
Anatoly steps behind the door, and awaits someone to enter. If the opportunity presents himself, he steps forward, and sticks the gun in the ribs of whoever enters. If it's more than one person, he'll just holler for them to drop their weapons, and turn around slowly. If things go south...
Firearms (3/8 Send)
Damage
Amadeus wheezes a bit as he half bends over, catching his breath. "Better... do... as.. he says, Mister Trammel. He's been itching to shoot a man. You bleed as well as anyone." He grimaces as the still fresh wound in his side begins to bleed a bit through the bandage.
Trammel turns with a start, raising his arms as you begin walking across the conservatory.
"AH. I see... from Savannah, right? Joy Grove? He told me all about you, all about a lot of things. There's no need for things to get unpleasant. I'm a very wealthy man, plenty to spare. Cash, drugs, anything you want...", he says, before trailing off into a giggle.
I think what we most want...are answers. And those rare books if you have them handy.
Amadeus pales a bit when Trammel breaks into his giggling. "Answers, indeed. What in the name of Lucifer and all his angels were you doing summoning that damnable mouth?!?"
With the adrenaline fading, Joseph realizes... he could have died!
Anatoly hides behind the door... and the footsteps stop.
He can hear them backing off from the front and trying to sneak around the back. Anatoly faces the rear entrance, gun drawn as another of Trammel's guards starts opening the door.
Amadeus pales a bit when Trammel breaks into his giggling. "Answers, indeed. What in the name of Lucifer and all his angels were you doing summoning that damnable mouth?!?"
Trammel straightens. His demeanor shifts- more imperious, more arrogant.
"Lucifer is a poor display of imagination, a mirror man made for himself. True gods, REAL gods are far more complex and have far different demands. Why beckon the mouth? Simple: money, power, pleasure. Knowledge. All things at my disposal, as much as I could want. Echavarria's focus was narrow- the Nectar of the Dripping Mouth brings more intense pleasure than any earthly drug and we have the only source. Why keep it to such small markets when we could bring it to the world? The gift of our god, his sacrament, must be shared- at the right price."
"My books? Is that all? What more use would I have for a human interpretation when I am worthy of receiving His word directly?"
Evelyn stays behind Freddy and Amadeus, hardly able to believe that the situation had escalated to holding the man himself at gunpoint. She fiddles with the contents of her handbag while tossing occasional glances at the door behind they came in through, not at all eager to resort to violence herself. But having already sworn to not bail out again, she would if she had to.
I can hardly contain my excitement! I get to have all those wonderful books all to my...wait...
Might as well join the theme of two point spends.
Freddy slowly walks toward Samson, gun still trained on the man. "We certainly appreciate your cooperation Mr Trammel. Are the books here in your suitcase?"
With the adrenaline fading, Joseph realizes... he could have died!
Anatoly hides behind the door... and the footsteps stop.
** spoiler omitted **
He can hear them backing off from the front and trying to sneak around the back. Anatoly faces the rear entrance, gun drawn as another of Trammel's guards starts opening the door.
The door flies open and the archaeologist has nothing but instinct to go on. He shoots first, a solid shot to the guard's center mass and he falls, the door swinging shut.
Freddy slowly walks toward Samson, gun still trained on the man. "We certainly appreciate your cooperation Mr Trammel. Are the books here in your suitcase?"
Trammel's acting pretty fishy, you can all tell. When you hear a boot hit the opposite door in the study, you instinctively hit the deck when Trammel does. Walker kicks the door open, a lee enfield in his hands leveling a shot at Freddy!
The bullet sears a path across Freddy's right leg- it's a graze, but a pretty painful one.
The sound of gunfire is strangely reassuring to Evelyn, if only in the sense that it justified what she was about to do as self-defense. Her hand withdraws from her purse, clutching a Colt .32 which she points in their assailant's general direction. She closes her eyes and squeezes the trigger - a crack shot she was not.
"Ugh!" Freddy winces in pain at the wound, but adrenaline and Freddy's training soon take over and he levels his Colt .45 at the new target.
"Stars and stones, not again!" Amadeus groans as the bullets fire!
Groaning still, he crawls to Trammel and grabs him, trying to keep him from weaseling away (and also keeping him in between the man firing and Amadeus' precious squishy form).