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Smerg & Hank: "Good thinkin'... I'll go first, I've got a better idea of the ship's layout," he says as he works his way into the duct. Mechanics
Vic immediately manages to disprove that theory.
Smerg & Hank:
Acrobatics
"Well let's not stand around then. It's this way," he beckons as he starts off at a jog, doing his best to avoid populated areas of the ship. Halfway down a stairwell not too far from the lifeboat, Vic stops a moment and whispers "Hear that? Some...thing behind us?" he says as he glances back towards the landing. "Go!" he hisses, putting one hand on the railing and attempting to vault down to the lower set of the double stairs. He doesn't quite get his leg high enough as he bangs his shin, cursing and barely managing to keep his balance and not tumble over or slide down the steps.
Smerg and Hank: Vic's jaw drops at the news. The idea of what's really going on causes him to work his mouth a bit, his brain trying to form ideas but unable to give them voice.
The gunfire changes that. "Son of a b$%%$, son of a b+&~*," he croaks. "OK, OK, we uh, we'd probably want something with a motor, right guys?" Vic says, the flight response kicking in fast. "We get down to the water line, we can probably do better than a lifeboat. I'd rather not be stuck at sea in that dinghy," he says, gesturing to the lifeboat. He watches the crowd scoot by, a ball forming in the pit of his stomach as he thinks how bad things are going to get here and how little he can help.
Smerg and Hank: "You didn't get any order to man the lifeboats, didja? We're undermanned as it is! We don't need ya'll abandoning ship!" Vic reprimands the other passengers. After a moment exactly what Hank said sinks in. "Bites?" Vic asks, dumbfounded. "What the hell's going on with this... uh, bug," he says, slowing to a murmur. He gets out his radio and tries it again, and assuming it's still static, asks the crewmen, "Who exactly's in charge here? We need to try and get things back under control!"
Smerg and Hank: Vic shrugs off the radio not working, figuring it's either on the fritz or the operators are busy.
Vic stops stark still in the middle of Deck 6, his heart skipping a beat as he sees the lifeboats being manned. "What're ya'll doing?" he calls out to the crew. Then the screams start coming from Deck 5. "What the hell's going on here?"
Smerg: Vic's facial expression turns into a mix of glare and frown as the crowd turns into stereotypical snooty cruise-shippers. Hope you all catch whatever's goin' around he thinks as a hot flash of anger rolls over him.
Moving towards the deck, he catches Emmy's thanks and manages a small smile and a nod, hoping his face was already red from the exertion. He takes up the walkie and says into it, as evenly as he can manage, "Situation on Deck 10 is taken care of. There still trouble in the theater on Deck 5?" He starts walking towards the stairs, already assuming the answer is 'yes'.
Smerg: Thanks, Pedro.
Vic weighs his options for a second and decides that beating up a passenger is definitely the worst of a host of terrible ones. "Alright, guys, outta the way!" he yells, pushing his way past the crowd. "Things are goin' to hell and I need to get down to Deck 5!" He winces a bit as he remembers he wasn't supposed to let on that, well, things were going to hell, but it was pretty obvious by now anyway. "Just let this guy sleep it off so I can do my job!"
Overrun attempt
Persuasion
Smerg: Vic looks over his shoulder. "Well, desperate times, desperate measures. Let's just hope they don't get it on YouTube." "Just, uh... Do what you can," he says unhelpfully before continuing his retreat and looking for a likely door. Athletics
Smerg:
Vic takes the towel and stares dumbly at it for a second before sticking it halfway into a back pocket and saying, in a hushed tone, "Look, there's some trouble on Deck 5; we need to do something about the guy who attacked Emmy now," he says, gesturing towards the drunk.
Smerg: "That's two hands more'n I've got," Vic remarks, then adds "But I'll see what I can do once this is over with."
Vic continues his defensive stance, waiting for the man to approach and scanning the crowd for the other hands on this deck.
Smerg: Persuasion "Ah, uh," Vic blurts into the receiver, "We've got a... uh, unruly drunk on Deck 10." After trying to listen to the guy's slurred speech for a second, he adds, "Tried to grab Emmy and bi- uh, attack me. Big guy, don't think I can take him myself, if anybody can back me up." Perception
Smerg: Vic glares at the guy with the phone, narrowly repressing the urge to make a rude gesture and make the whole thing look even worse than it already did.
He backs up a bit more, his mind frantically going between not letting the 'drunk' at the passengers and somehow calling for (likely non-existent) backup. In the end he winds up taking a few steps back and bracing himself, waiting to see what his 'opponent' will do and hoping that the now-watching crowd will get the idea that this is not his fault.
Smerg: Persuasion
Smerg: Vic frantically tries to figure out what the man's problem is, but with the imminent prospect of being bitten by a guy who was at best deranged or drug-addled and at worst sick and catching, his survival instincts kick in. He manages to squirm one limb or another into place and viciously knocks the man backwards, disengaging him entirely. Perception/Treat Injury/Wis Check
"Get back, Emmy," he says, even as he takes his own advice and moves away, looking around to see what the rest of the deck's reaction is. "Little help here?" he asks, his bewilderment clear in his voice.
Smerg: Init Grapple
"Hey, what the &@!?, man?" Vic yelps as he realizes the man is baring his teeth. Abandoning all pretext of manhandling the drunk, he uses the momentum of his failed grab to put himself between the two.
Smerg: Having spent most of his time after defusing the passengers simply people-watching, Vic is quick to notice the altercation and steps forward. "Hey!"
He walks briskly over to the two, grabbing the man's shoulder as soon as he gets there. "She said she's sorry, sir. Let her go. If there's anything I can do for you... ?" he says, hoping he doesn't make any outrageous demands or start an actual fight.
Smerg: Having spent most of the ride with some of these folks, Vic has a decent idea of how to relate to them. "Yeah, well, not everybody eats well and lives right like we do, you know?" "I know! You'd think Carnival would hire better - or more - people. It's not much better belowdecks and that's just not right." "Yeah, this is one helluva bug... Hopefully it'll pass over soon enough, though." He realizes once it's through that maybe he should have been a little more tight-lipped, but hey - at least a riot didn't break out. With the situation as in-hand as it can be, he strolls over to the edge and looks out to sea. There's a sinking feeling in his gut as he realizes how long it's been and how not in port they are. He turns and looks around, frowning. He'd never really been in charge of a vessel out of sight of the coast, and there were no trees or landmarks to get his bearings by out at sea. I hope we aren't gonna wind up dead on the water out here. Persuasion
Smerg: Vic considers the shoe situation. It was tempting to switch, but the fine was steep and he'd never been one to care what others thought of him. He resolved to just clean his current pair as best he could, stopping off in a public restroom along the way to remove the rest of the sick from his shoes as best he could. He also scrubs his hands down well before heading to breakfast.
He can't help but grin a little as he works his way around the crew dining area - breakfast was slummin' it, for once, and although a lot of folks would turn their nose up it reminded him of childhood vacations. Both sausages, a couple of slices of bread, and an orange find their way onto his plate. Figuring it best to just get a move on, he grabs a cup of lukewarm coffee to drink, quarters the orange, wraps the sausages to create a crude sandwich, wolfs both down and only really takes time to savor the fruit. With his belly full and as properly dressed as he can manage, he double times it up to Deck 10, ready to put on as pleasant a face as he can manage and trying not to think about how miserable the next few days will be.
Smerg: "Whoa, guys, sorry to bother ya," Vic mutters as he pulls the door to quickly.
"Ugh." He rubs his eyes briefly and steps back out into the hall. If he's gone he's gone. Someone'll find 'im and take care of him eventually, I hope. Assuming he remains unmolested by the diners, Vic will head to figure out what duty he's on and possibly try to grab some breakfast. And another pair of shoes, if they provide spares.
Smerg: Survival
Vic stumbles cluelessly about the area near the infirmary, not having much luck piecing anything together.
Smerg: "Um... Duh?" Vic blurts, looking up and down the hall and even behind him. "I'm, uh, that is... He was here a minute ago," he says dumbly. "I... Maybe somebody else helped him? People don't just get up and walk away after this do they?"
He looks to Meg with a look of honest confusion and shrugs. "I don't wanna waste any more of your time, but I'll take a look around and see if he crawled off somewhere."
Smerg: "Vic," he replies. "Well..." he says, looking around, "I was hopin' to see how everybody was after last night. Not so sure I wanted to know now," he says with a grimace.
"Oh! Main thing is you've got an escapee," he says, turning back towards the door. "There's another fella seizing just around the corner... Though I imagine that doesn't surprise ya." After a moment's pause, he adds, "I'll give you a hand with 'im if you need it, but after that I should probably check the duty roster. Looks like we're runnin' a skeleton crew right now."
Smerg: Oh boy, Vic frowns. It looked like the worst had happened - they'd be stuck in the next port for a while, dealing with God knew what regulations and quarantine procedures.
Seeing the general state of things and the nurse's situation, he starts a brisk walk towards the bed, trying to avoid stepping on any of the sick or their ick. "Hey, ma'am, you need a hand?"
My crappy straw hat ensures my insides stay my insides! (I have already ranted, somewhere, about the avatar selection - I pretty much gave up because headwear was something I wanted and frankly digging through pages of really ugly guys and Valeros in various states of panic is no way to waste time).
Smerg: With panic rising in his gut and his knowledge of first aid hidden behind a year's worth of experience with little use, Vic opts to defer to the authorities. He jogs the distance to the infirmary doors and sticks his head in, trying to ignore the squelching noise his shoes make. "Anybody home? We got a sick person out here!" Perception
Smerg: "Oh hell, what happened to you?" Vic asks, shifting his weight about from foot to foot uncomfortably. "Docs!" he yells, hoping someone's still on their feet in the infirmary. "Got a seizure out here!"
Smerg: Requested rolls...
Perception
Init... if needed
Smerg: "Ugh," Vic moans, looking up and down the hall. He was never a morning person and had only taken time to throw on his uniform and make sure he wasn't too hideous. And it looked like everybody else would be hungover or sick. Vic will take a meandering route towards wherever it is they take their meals, preferably dropping by the infirmary to see if he can get an update from anyone on just what the hell's happened down here. If he remains zombie-free, he will then go take said meal.
Oh, boy, Vic thinks, grimacing. He was rarely sick, but as catching as this bug seemed to be he was starting to get worried. A sick bunkmate was a nuisance in both the short and long terms. Rounding the corner into the room, he takes a moment to see which roommate it is before asking, "Hey, you OK? Need me to take you to the docs?"
With the night's excitement apparently abated, Vic takes his leave of the team and continues wandering the ship, keeping an eye on the drunks to make sure nothing untoward happens. He'll keep this up for another half-hour or so before retiring to the crew decks and getting his rest before the morning shift.
Vic exhales heavily, doing a passing job of not appearing disappointed, even if he doesn't appear convincingly relieved. With nothing exciting to do and feeling a little guilty about feeling that way, he focuses all his attention on the proceedings and avoid eye contact. As he realizes the ship's name is Typhoon Mary, he can't help but let out a breathy chuckle as realizes what the name's meant to invoke. "Helluva name for a ship," he mutters under his breath.
Smerg: Vic is quick to report as asked, actually a little glad for the excitement.
If there's anybody else around, he asks what's up and tries to get a closer look at the boat, seeing whether or not it's part of the rescue team.
Perception (+0)
Vic is only tangentially aware that anything is amiss aboard ship. After all, sick people don't frequent the gym nor are they much interested in rock climbing. In fact, the whole journey is pretty typical and boring in his eyes. Mornings spent making sure nobody dashed their brains on the deck, afternoons spent in the gym or pool, another shift and then night-time. With most of the passengers engaged in Fiesta Night, he finds the perfect excuse to wander the ship and gaze at the star-specked horizon over the rails. He finds himself near the festivities a bit before midnight - near enough to hear salsa music and the occasional exclamation in bad Spanish. Then a sinking feel hits his stomach and, after a moment, he realizes the familiar thrum of the engines has started to slow. Ah, hell, he thinks. Hope something's not wrong down there. Never terribly decisive, he turns around and leans back against the rail, wondering if he should go see what it's about or to trust the folks that'd been hired to fix that sort of thing.
Assuming crew has the same $1400 allowance, we'll say Vic has his it split about evenly - $700 credit limit (Discover card) and $700, a few hundreds and the rest in smaller denominations. He's pretty stingy in general and will probably stick to cash - mostly buying a cheap little trinket or two for the folks back home, maybe a lunch or two, and ponying up for the more thrilling activities (if he can do so without it being considered mingling). He's been doing this for a while now, so I imagine it's all become painfully routine (perhaps a bit dull). As such I haven't noted what he'll be doing day-to-day. Vic'll probably be teaching/lifeguarding/whatever the rock climbing (closest thing to an adrenaline rush on the ship, I imagine). When not working, he'll probably be keeping to the crew areas (he takes the 'no mingling' thing seriously, and he's not prone to networking amongst strangers anyway), most likely in his bunk reading car magazines or something to that effect. He'll spend some time in the pool or at the gym, working out a bit or dropping in on other athletic trainer type crew member buddies. He'll also definitely try out the bungee trampolines... probably a couple of times. In the evenings he will likely spend a while leaning on the railing and ocean gazing. He will of course be taking his meals in the crew area.
Hehe, that 'can I have a zombie avatar' was a stupid joke brought about by lack of sleep. I'll probably be picking another avatar than this one at some point, but that's not really important. Anyway, as the character has congealed I think, mechanically, he is through his first pass and ready for inspection. A quick list of changes/additions: I switched STR and INT. 13 STR gives him access to some of the neat melee tricks if I decide to pick some up later. He's predispositioned to straightforward fighting and isn't an avid learner (about most things, anyway), so I think it fits better. Not being able to hold his own in a brawl also just feels wrong, heh. I'm focusing on the tough aspect right now, picking up Toughness as a feat and Tough as Nails for my talent. The fast/gunman aspect will come later; for now all I did was grab Point Blank Shot (being able to fire accurately into melee just doesn't fit. I also fixed some BBcode errors that made it look like he had five trained skills for a sec.
Pointless but hopefully amusing avatar rant:
You know, as far as avatars go, it seems like Paizo gives you a few choices of what you can be:
female, a monster, ugly, bald, old, heavily armored, angry, in profile (or otherwise not facing the camera), not human, ugly, a doofus, or posessed of extremely questionable fashion sense. (Yes I said ugly twice). I'm pretty sure there are at least a half dozen ways to be Valeros, as well, if you were ever so inclined. There's also a few totally sweet wizards, but that never seems to help me. Oh, here's an option! Can I start out as a zombie?
I swear, the avatar selection here is almost enough to make me exclusively crossplay sexes. I went with a Soldier if only to differentiate myself from Geoff (I'm assuming we don't literally mean 'military guy' here, merely someone tough that knows his way around a fight better than the average guy). I will also take the opportunity to gush about SAGA handling this stuff better than d20. I never did like the Strong and Tough heroes; the Soldier has a very nice array of talents, though. I'm assuming we're using the class skills listed in the fantasy document and expanding them as appropriate from the selections under our chosen Occupation. I also assume we're using a mix of d20 Modern and SAGA feats (using the better where it overlaps?) That said, I picked Blue Collar (guy's day job is/was an auto mechanic and general gearhead... any similarities to Aran purely coincidental). Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill. Craft (electronic, mechanical, or structural), Climb, Drive, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Repair, Ride. I'm interpreting that as getting Mechanics as a trained skill (Repair, Craft), +1 Pilot (Drive), and +1 Athletics (Climb). Also, I couldn't recall offhand if an INT bonus gives you an extra language in d20M; he currently has Spanish listed. If I'm getting my rules crossed here I'll probably just drop it all together. Also do we get +2 to an ability for being human? I assumed no (and amused myself by winding up with the Elite Array). I'm not quite sure how Geoff's stats work out with or without it (though maybe that's sleep dep's fault). Talent and feats aren't picked yet, but will likely be focused towards guns (I meant to play that up in the background more than I did), with maybe a little melee or 'tough' type feats thrown in. I think that's all my mechanical stuff. The actual character is included within but I'll let that speak for itself. The background does show that I went back and forth between 'survivalist' and, uh, whatever you call the current background. Details towards the end are obviously malleable as we decide on the setting. In fact, I think it's prudent to mention the major caveat of I should have been asleep an hour or two ago. I definitely missed a couple of significant elements, so I may do a substantial overhaul but I think this hits the core of what I was going for originally. If I do make any major changes, it'll probably be gearing more towards 'woodsy type'. edit: haha, I totally forgot my 'treasured item'. I am just going to say Work in Progress and go to sleep now. |