Alice sighed and turned back to the witch, ”We don’t want any of your foul black magic, we want information. Tell us what you know about Solomon’s Key, and be quick my trigger finger is itchy.”

The witch looks surprised at the question, but her face quickly calms, no doubt realizing the situation. I don't know where it is. If I did I would have obtained it already. You're not the only ones looking for it though. My master has men everywhere, hunting for it. All I know is there is supposed to be coordinates written somewhere, a scroll or papyrus no doubt considering the time period she frowns in thought, her archeologist brain working in spite of the gun pointed at her. Why do you think I travel so much? I've obtained much in doing so, and some things even allude to the key, but as yet nothing outright tells me where it is, or even hints for that matter. she shakes her head.

'What are you talking about?' Penny asked loudly, her ears still deafened by the banshee-like scream. 'I can't hear anything!'


OOC: Can I read lips? d20 Modern doesn't give a check for it, but D&D suggests a Spot DC 15.
14:59, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 20 using 1d20+9. Spot - read lips?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/spot.htm

ooc: I'll say that Penny can read her lips enough to get the gist of what she's talking about. Basically that she doesn't know where the key is but has been looking for it, etc.

Meanwhile, while you're at it, please roll a listen check Alice. Sorry Penny ;P Though you'll be able to hear again in about two rounds.

08:59, Today: Mary-Alice Reussoe Conner rolled 8 using 1d20+4.  Listen...not one of my best buuut.

Glass shatters suddenly, the display case in front of Alice breaking. Even Penny notices, and you both whip around to see the maid from before, holding a gun out towards Alice, looking shaky and terrified but determined to save her mistress. Thieves! Get out of here now! Leave her alone! she trembles.

ooc: Penny, you would be able to read just enough of her lips, not to mention her body language, to suspect she thinks you mere thieves. You can also tell she has absolutely no idea what she's doing.

Penny struggled to understand what the witch was saying, reading her lips and seeing maybe one word in five clearly pronounced in Magda's accent. It wasn't until she got the word "key" that she could fill in the blanks, and she felt a sense of great dread at what Alice might have given away.

Which was interrupted when glass exploded in front of her. At first, she thought Alice had fired again, but in looking around she saw the maid with a gun. She dare not do anything more now, and risk involving an innocent. 'Girl, your mistress tried to rob us!' Penny shouted. 'We will leave now. You should consider seeking a new position.' She waved to Alice, indicating she should follow, as Penny tried to sidle around the room, away from the gun-wielding maid and toward the exit. If only every great house could have such valiant help.

As Penny was speaking, Alice was aready moving. She used her foot to push the witch prone. She said, ”Tell them Alice sent you.”. She delivered a Coup-de-Gras to the back of the witch’s skull. She spun her gun around backwards and dropped it into her holster, and at the same time drew her second weapon and aimed it at the maid.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:19, Tue 06 Aug 2019.

The maid screams as her mistress falls down dead. Murderer!! she accuses. She's incredibly panicked looking, which makes you think that's why she shoots at Alice so suddenly, even with Alice's gun pointed at her, as though she didn't know what else to do. She's able to get two shots off. One goes wide and the other, amazingly hits, grazing her side. It is...unexpected, for the woman clearly has never held a gun before.

Penny, you naturally don't hear any of this but the accusation is clear enough judging by her face and you see Alice flinch enough to realize she's been shot. You also get the impression this woman may be entirely innocent of anything but being a loyal servant.

'Damn and blast!' Penny spat as an already terrible situation worsened considerably. She couldn't hear a thing, but she knew Alice had said far too much about the Key of Solomon; now, she couldn't even be sure if killing the witch was preferable or not. Who would Magda talk to her in whatever dark afterlife she went to?

Hastily, Penny stuffed the Aztec knife into her purse, then interjected herself between Alice and the maid before one or the other was shot again. 'Listen to me. Your mistress was a villain, a robber, and a genuine witch. Surely you must have known this in your soul.' she said levelly, focused on the frightened maid. 'Surely you have seen the signs. Perhaps you have heard strange sounds in the house, maybe even screams. Or there are rooms she forbade you to enter. Strange and disturbing artefacts in her possession. Visitors you've seen to arrive but never leave.' As she spoke, she steadily approached the frightened maid, trying to get in arm's reach.


OOC: Diplomacy 22, +5 if you think the Hunter bonus applies
20:30, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 22 using 1d20+3. diplomacy.

The maid, still trembling, points the gun at Penny, but her words jar her and she listens, transfixed and uncertain. W-What are you talking about? That's impossible! she whimpers. Penny of course, doesn't hear her, but you can read the word impossible on her lips. Her eyes though, seem to be uncertain and it's enough to keep her from pulling the trigger again. For now...


ooc: Ok Penny! Go ahead and roll to try to disarm her!

Alice flinched at the wound. She is pleasantly surprised at Penny’s ability to deal with the distraught maid. She will hold her weapon pointed at the main until the maid lowers her weapon.

While she'd kept the panicked maid listening, even if she hadn't been believed, Penny had advanced ever closer, until she was within arm's reach, until the barrel of the pistol was barely a foot away from her heart. A bad position to be in, perhaps. Penny could tell the girl was untrained with the gun, had never even held one before, and her grip was loose and improper. But fear sped her reflexes, made her hands twitchy. It could go off with the slightest surprise.

'We don't want to hurt you.' Penny said calmly, glancing slightly behind her to confirm Alice's position, that she would not be in the line of fire again. Then suddenly she spun back and slapped the maid's arms, one hand batting the gun to the side so it wouldn't hit anyone, the other catching the hot pistol to twist it deftly out of her hand...


OOC: Exploit Weakness, 22 vs DC 15, success, add Int to attack rolls versus Maid
Improved Disarm: no AoO
Attempt Disarm of ranged weapon, attack roll 21
This message was last edited by the player at 07:11, Sat 17 Aug 2019.

The maid gives a little shriek of surprise as Penny successfully disarms her. Then, realizing she is very much in deep water, the terrified woman frantically backs up, sobbing. P-Please don't kill me! Please! She's nearly in hysterics, particularly afraid of Alice, though her eyes dart back and forth from her to Penny. Finally, blessedly by now Penny's hearing is starting to return. Relief floods you as you faintly hear the woman's sobs.

Meanwhile, a door across the room bursts open. Ian enters, gun drawn. Is everyone alright!? I heard gunshots! His eyes go to Penny first before checking to see if Alice is alright.

Alice nodded, ”Great timing, as usual Ian. Dead witch. Terrified housekeeper.” This is her way f summarizing the situation.

With the pistol in her practised hand now, Penny backed away from the maid lest she attempt to grab for it in the same way, though it was clear she lacked the courage or the wit now. Although she couldn't discern what she was pleading, she could guess it well enough. Regardless, Penny kept her covered with the gun just so she wouldn't run off.

Then Penny shook her head as her hearing returned, sounds at first seeming muffled and distant, and then much too loud in her unused ears. 'Not so loud.' she hissed to Ian, glancing toward him with a welcome, relieved expression. She was pleased the mission was still, and moreover that he was safe.

'Magda attacked us.' Penny insisted; since it was she who had called for a non-violent approach, and had ended the evening with a bloody dagger and a pistol in her hand, she felt some clarification was in order. 'She tried to steal the Mayan knife. Did you... get what you came for?'

Ian looks a tad bewildered at Penny's request for a quieter tone, and comically whispers thereafter, trying to accommodate her. I leave you two alone for ten minutes... he shakes his head bemusedly. And no. We haven't found it yet. I think they're closing in though, but they've made a real mess of the place. If I were the bookish type I'd be traumatized. As it is Tabitha is close to conniptions but Emma is taking the more aggressive tactic. Now, what do you intend to do about this little mess? he gestures to Magda's body and the still terrified maid. He turns to the latter, speaking kindly and pulling out a badge from his vest pocket. It's alright Miss. I'm with the Pinkertons. Your employer was a very naughty girl I'm afraid. Now, we have to sort out matters and get this all straightened out and then I'll happily tell you everything. In the meantime love, are there anymore servants about who will need calming? Can't have anyone else misunderstanding the situation now can we? His voice is gentle and kind and though she is still upset she seems to soften somewhat. Ian always did have a way with women. Pinkertons? Really? And yes. There are four more of us. If they've heard the gunshots it's only a matter of time before they... she starts sobbing, looking at Magda's body again. She's under investigation? Did you really need to kill her? Ian moves forward and puts an arm around her shoulder, glancing at the two of you warningly, no doubt worried about her statement of the other servants...

Alice wondered the same thing. Penny would know what to do so she would just follow Penny’s lead.

'Oh, speak up, man.' Penny then ordered irritably as Ian began to whisper, now too near the threshold of her abused ears. Listening to the news, she tried to think So, if Tabitha and Emma hadn't located the scroll, what then had been the point of this exercise? She needed to join the search herself, and hopefully seize the scroll herself – no need or time for making copies or leaving forgeries now.

After hearing from the maid and Ian, Penny gazed over the dead body of Magda Petrovich and then looked to Alice. She had no good answer the maid, and feared to wonder which was worse: Magda alive or Magda dead, with the knowledge of what they'd come here for. She still didn't know, but said sadly 'I'm rather afraid we did. We fought only to defend ourselves against her assaults, and the wounds she received were mortal ones, I fear.'

Opening the barrel, she tipped the remaining bullets out of the pistol into her purse, then wiped the gun down with her handkerchief. The science of fingerprint identification was still a very new one; Doctor Henry Faulds's proposal to Scotland Yard may have been dismissed, but Penny had listened, and it may yet be unheard of in the Americas, but she would not take chances.

'Ian, if you deal with the remaining staff, we can rescue Emma and Tabitha.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:46, Wed 21 Aug 2019.

Alice nodded in agreement at Penny’s plan.

Ian nods, already putting a comforting arm around the maid's trembling shoulders. He always did have an easing presence and the man knew how to use it. Just in time too as two men rush in, looking ready to strike anything that moves. Ian immediately holds up  his badge again, launching into his story as he nonchalantly waves you both off.

You head deeper into the house, intuition more than anything helping you find your way. It isn't difficult to find the library, though it is apparently locked from the inside, no doubt Emma and Tabitha attempting to buy themselves more time. A simple whisper for admittance gains you entrance though and you enter to find a completely splendid room. Shelves line the walls and glass cases on stands dot various corners, each with some precious artifact or another peaking out from within. Unfortunately, the place is a mess. Emma even now is tossing things into piles haphazardly, squinting at mounds of papers in front of her as she rifles through them with wild abandon. Tabitha looks ready to scream, scolding the other witch to be careful even as she tries to search herself, head constantly whipping back around to glower at the woman. No wonder they didn't find it yet. Seeing the mess, Magda is no doubt rolling around in her soon to be grave.

ooc: Ok, so there's a lot of interesting stuff here but how much you run across will depend on how well your searches go. So roll, write your intentions and best of luck to you!

Alice did not want to add to the chaos, so she stood in the door and tried to spot the artifact in question. She also looked for anything interesting in the way of weapons or things that would help them on their current quest.

08:48, Today: Mary-Alice Reussoe Conner rolled 12 using 1d20+4.  K: Arcane.
08:48, Today: Mary-Alice Reussoe Conner rolled 19 using 1d20+7.  Spot.

'Well,' Penny began icily as she surveyed the disorganised chaos that had once been Magda's library, 'I had wished the search performed with absolute carefulness and discretion, but it hardly matters now, does it? Magda Petrovich is rather too dead to worry about the state of her library now.'

She began mucking in, scanning the shelves and the heaps and sifting through the documents with the same careful eye she applied to bloody crime scenes. Which this was roughly equivalent to in her eyes.


OOC: Oh yeah, natural 20!
15:36, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 34 using 1d20+14. search.
15:40, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 19 using 1d20+14. Find Clues: Search.

Tabitha pales hearing that Magda is dead, and you suspect she's still somewhat afraid of you considering how easily her old companions seem to be dropping. Emma, however, looks pleased and perhaps a tad bit proud of all things.

The search is...fast. Penny, within one minute of searching, finds a linen lined box of scroll pieces, obviously artifacts that are not complete, and within moments recognizes the other half of the scroll. It's laughably easy for her and both witch's faces turn red at the sight, embarrassed.

Meanwhile, the rest of the place holds interesting things. Both of you find guns, Alice a shot gun and Penny a small handgun, each worked with runes of some kind. Alice also finds a mysterious flat vial about the size of a half dollar, and a very old looking copper cuff.

Penny, finds some round spectacles with lavender lenses and a pretty blue ring that somehow draws you to it.

Emma and Tabitha both help you examine your finds. Before you can get to the matter of the scroll's contents though, the door bursts open and Ian enters, looking nervous. I got most of them to buy it, but we'd better get out of here now. There's a nosy old coot who won't take me at my word, badge or not. You find everything I hope? He keeps looking behind him as though expecting someone to burst in. I think we'd better go out the window or somethin. Going back through there may be a bit risky. Something about that old fellow I really really don't like...

ooc: Ok, since you're in a hurry I'll describe your goodies to you later. In the meantime you'll have to decide if you go out the front or the back and how quiet you think you can be etc.

'Yes, we've got it.' Penny answered Ian, quickly stuffing the scroll and other finds in her purse for later examination. The witch's artefacts seemed important somehow, and it wasn't like Magda would miss them, nor that their alleged crimes could get any worse. But she had the scroll, the key to the Key of Solomon, that was the main thing. Maybe they could at last win a victory against Belial? 'Very well, let's make haste, out the window.' She crossed to the window and tried to fling it open dramatically, before attempting to climb out. 'No offence, but it is time for us to be long gone from Portland and Maine, I think.'