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That sucks, but it happens to everyone. Katherine has no special wrap up required, I think. Her job was to kill the Nazi and get away with it, so welding his teeth to his car and fleeing is what she intended to do. She absolutely would try and keep the violin out of the hands of folks, and would try and talk Ada out of keeping it (and possibly bringing it to the Laundry herself, if Ada wanted) but otherwise dead Nazi's are the thing.
Katherine was surprised at how resilient she was to the latest attack, but it still took its toll on her. She felt weaker and less able to fight back. Whatever that violin was she did not want to suffer another of its effects. With a grunt, she focused her abilities. This was no time to be calm nor cautious. Instead, she poured her reserves into the spell, and the area around Hendrich - and his car - erupted in a roar of fire. It wasn't as powerful as it should have been. Whatever that violin did ensured that. But it did retain its size and difficulty to avoid thanks to the years of practice she had put into incinerating whole rooms.
Gasping as Titan healed her, Katherine rose back to her feet and sureptitiously healed herself as well.
Oh, so I do. It doesn't matter too much, since I've taken four non-lethal damage too - I'm still unconscious. But I'm not dead yet!
Katherine collapsed under the attack. The blast simply wiped her out.
Well, Thomasz was right about it being pointless to attack that thing. They needed to kill Heydrich. Which meant finding him. Either here or by ejecting them all from this place, which he had so much control over.
Katheryn groaned as the attack washed over her, and cowered away from the...thing...that had been called. Or made. Or perhaps this was its place, and the Nazi commander had simply brought them all here. Still, she backed away while cowering and attempted to blow a chunk off the thing.
Well. That would be awkward. Katherine chose to move back a little. She had no idea how to blow up a target she couldn't see, so for now waited to try when one came from below.
Not noticing the cold itself, Katherine certainly noted the snow and ice. Which was lucky. She didn't want to give the idea that she wasn't quite...normal, not while it could still hold certain advantages. Slipping and staggering around, she aimed another of the fireball's she'd just set off in the same place. She knew where he had been even if she couldn't see him now, and perhaps he was still there. What on Earth is happening?" she called out, "Where is everyone?" She hoped two things - that her voice would cover the movement of the others, and that it would draw his attention while still making her seem unthreatening.
Seeing the grenade, Katherine took her chance. She backed away, her eyes wide in horror as the weapon sailed. "But...we...talk?" she stuttered, giving no hint about the ball of raw pyromantic energy she called into existence for a moment.
Not a problem. I was happy to play for time, but if we wanna jump down his throat - possibly literally, given some of the odder abilities out there - I'm happy to do so. Plus it plays into my character's abilities. When the shooting starts she can pretend to be horrified by the violence and backaway while setting fire to his insides.
"Certainly," Katherine said, clearing her mind. There was no harm in listening, she assumed, and she wished to gather her mind for a moment. To have overcome her defences was...impressive. She attempted to clear the blurring from her mind and bring everything into focus, suspecting something wasn't right still.
"I'm sure everything is normal," Katherine said as she considered things. "But I'm not sure I should be sure that everything is normal. Why does that make sense?"
Katherine nodded her agreement, both concerned and relieved. If it was both of them then it was unlikely to fault of magic burning her mind to a slow char, one section at a time. On the other, if it was both of them, then it was likely an aggresive action.
"I think so. I haven't noticed any...harm? But then, I am the first person to tell you that if a victim is attacked subtly enough, they will not know." Katherine shrugged slightly.
"I don't know," She replied cheerfully. "Something feels wrong. Time isn't right. I can't really explain what's wrong."
Katherine frowned. Something just felt wrong. Time wasn't flowing as it should be. She felt...compromised. The problem was, of course, that she might be. Using the mathematical codes that produced what was generally thought of as 'magic' damaged the brain. Athough she wasn't clear on the details, she had been bred to avoid that. So far she had seen no evidence that it was happening to her. But she'd rarely used so much magic in so little time. It had taken a toll on her energy, certainly, but what if the result had been more...permanent. If damage was starting to occur and this displaced timelessness was the first sensation of such, the she would need to change her actions accordingly. "When we have a short moment, I think I might ask one of you gentleman to examine my mind. Something is amiss there, I feel." Letting them in was a bit of a risk - she certainly didn't trust any of them - but this was midly time sensitive, and the job was done so she could afford a risk. Wasn't it?
...yes, I was definitely thinking of the critically acclaimed World War II classic and not Sin City...
...agreed, with maybe splashes of red for lipstick, fire and blood.
Katherine shook her head. Something about this wasn't quite correct, but she couldn't determine what. Since she wasn't powerful enough to turn the eyes of so many, and had no allies in the city, she looked to the others.
I figured it was mind control, implanting memories of success where no success was had.
Well, that was easy. Good game all! ...waht du yu meen role to disbalief du lussions?
Standing by the side, Katherine hummed gently to herself. She would do what she could to make sure this went off without a hitch. No doubt anyone who protected his mail with wards that would devour the mind would have no issues defending himself from a mere gun. If the attack looked to be failing, she would place a delayed explosion inside the vehicle, perhaps under the carriage or in the passenger compartment. It would look like the assassins had managed to smuggle an explosive on board or below the car. Perhaps she could warp the man's mind into staying put, as well, he would no doubt have an exceptional will and wards against magic. She would simply have to see where the dice would fall.
Katherine tsked at the man's shattered mind. With some time she supposed it might be possible to seal away some of the damage, but she wouldn't be here nearly long enough, and it probably couldn't fix whatever the thing had done to his mind. A shame. But she would soothe what she could. Maybe he would be able to find peace in other pieces of music. Once she did what could be done, and herded him out the door, she returned to the others. "Well, that was an evening. It occurs to me that we might wish to be concerned that the Reich has access to magics such as this, and can bind their messages in this way."
Nodding, Katherine moved over to examine the violinist's mind. It was possible that it had been deleted for all intents and purposes, leaving him nothing more than a living machine that would eventually play himself to death. But if not she'd erase the memories and replace it with a more appreciative and sanity soothing memory.
"Welcome back," the mage said with a small smile. Katherine looked over to the violinist. "If we are done with this gentleman, I'll implant him with the memories of a fine evening of playing, remove those of being controlled and send him on his way."
Katherine sighed, as being murdered by one's own allies would be a pain, and focused on undoing the spell. Failing that, she would reimplant the knowledge of who he actually was over the fake memories created. Cumbersome, but as a second option it should work.
Blinking the darkness from her eyes, Katherine glanced over at the compelled violinist. She was certainly going to have to spend some power to chance his memories. Eyes flicking back, she asked, "Has the ward been broken?"
Katherine stood ready, for the moment when the conviction was needed.
Looking at Richard with mild concern, but using magecraft came with a price. The damage it did to one's mind was reason for enough for the...quirks...that many spellcasters showed. Richard seemed to be no exception to this, but so long as he could the parts of his mind together for the mission, it would be fine. "When the time is right, I shall."
"Yes," Katherine responded with a nod. She hoped the others were ready for whatever the music revealed. She was waiting to soothe the man's mind so he wouldn't see whatever was about to happen, and to help the others meet the criteria as needed.
Violinist: Katherine gave the man a time for that evening and the location of there lodgings.
Violinist: Laughing delighted, Katherine shook her head with a smile. "A fine jest, Mr Michálek. I may be a woman, but I'm afraid I can't be nearly that frivilous with my money." She paused. "Surely fifty would be a more reasonable amount?" More than what was likely the going rate, but Katherine wanted him to think he was making out well and would do so in the future.
Violinist: Katherine considered this for a moment. "I think that the solo will be most suitable, at least until we arrange a larger party. It seems rather ostentatious to hire more people to play than are likely to attend." She smiled. "How much would it be for your performance alone?" Hopefully the idea of more paydays down the line would keep things under control now, monetarily speaking.
Violinist: Smile widening, Katherine nodded. "I was hoping, if you had some time to spare today, that you could help me with something. First, I was hoping that you could tell me about Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major. The second would be to play the piece this evening for some friends and I."
She added, "I know it is an odd request, but I understand it is an elegant piece that you play very well. Given the...times, such entertainment is hard to find."
Violinist: Knocking at the door to the address she had been given, waited until the door was answered and smiled. "Hello," she said in her perfectly accented Czech, "I am looking for a Mr Stefan Michálek? Is the right address?"
Sorry, I thought I was waiting for the others to do stuff since my search takes some time.
Music. I don't know much about the refugees, so I'll leave that up to people who have some idea.
"Nothing is simple or easy, but we shall see what can be done." Katherine moved off to see what she could find.
Katherine yawned sleepily, scrunching her toes up for a moment. "I'm afraid I can't remember much about the local music scene. I haven't been in town too long."
Sitting up from her slumber, Katherine put her feet on the floor with a stretch and a yawn. She glared at the suns sad attempts to peek out behind the clouds with obvious irritation. It was quite clear that she was not fond of working mornings, which wa not typically an issue for her - most of her missions took place late at night, during fine parties. She only had to get up early if she made a mistake. Usually. "I would imagine so, if we can provide an instrument and the sheet music. I suspect the instrument will be the harder to find, and most likely come with an accent." Perhaps it was the tiredness, or perhaps she didn't think it mattered, but more of an accent came through on the toussled haired woman than had been there the previous day.
Well, she still might.
I, for one, would prefer to go to a new day. We're not going to find anyone with the knowledge we need at this time of night...and I depleted most of my casting ability doing all that info gathering and brain washing.
"Money will resolve the problem, I should imagine. There are plenty of stage musicians who need to eat, even in the middle of this blasted war." If none of them had a talent for it, then it would have to do. The message might be important, to the Allies or to there own mission.
"At a pinch I can change someone's mind to do so, then change it back." Probably. Hopefully.
"I think..." Katherine considered for a moment. "I think that we disarm each one separately, if we're fast enough, and one person can break each ward."
I'll make an Intelligence check, which would be a +5, if you don't mind.
Well, one thing I can try is to rewrite someone's brain for a moment so that they truly believe they're a dedicated Nazi. ...things you never expected to say, but do. I'm still not sure if the other two parts are clues as to what we're actually meant to do, or seperate puzzles. Maybe you need to recite an oath against the Nazi's while believing in your heart that the cause is good (shudders) while Beethoven plays? I dunno.
"There are plenty of music teachers and shops, even during a war," Katherine said, blinking. "We should be able to find out more about the music in the morning, and maybe some hint as to why it's part of the ward."
Yawning sleepily, Katherine considered. "Are the two separate statements, or are they clues? Is it false that a heartfelt pledge will unlock it? Perhaps if we knew more about the third part..." |
