Mike waved the point of his revolver down towards the canvas bag, "We don't have the time nor the interest in playing games. We're not going to rob you, but whats in the bag?" His eyes hardened, "I'll warn you again, we are not messing around."

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 252):

The man responds quickly. "Clothes, trinkets. Mostly family heirlooms. I'm the sentimental type. You see my wife, bless her soul. These are all I got to remember her by." He continues to ramble at almost breakneck speed, talking about how he hasn't ever hurt anyone and his mum is waiting for him. "And then there is my brother, got the black lung you see. Can't even take care of his only son, my dear nephew. Looks up to me so. Says he wants to be just like me when he gets older." The man continues with no sign of stopping.

Mike approached the man and smashed the butt of the handgun into the side of his head.

20:48, Today: Jrodimus rolled 27 using 1d100.  Pistol whip the fool. (Brawl). Pass.
20:49, Today: Jrodimus rolled 1 using 1d4.  pistol whip damage.

Thuck!

Mike saw the flesh split near the man's temple, red threatening to pour forth from the flesh wound. He put the barrel of the gun against the man's cheek. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up." He shoved the man onto the bed, "Stay there and don't move. Keep your hands up." His grandfather's revolver never left the man.

"Can you see what's in the bag?" He asked Clarke.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 254):

Clarke was still shaky from the previous encounter with Daniel. He was certain he could take the suspicious man if he lunged for his weapon, but he wanted to make sure that the man would not try anything so imbecilic.

"My friend has had a long night," Clarke said. "We have been shot at and seen terrors of the deep no person should ever have laid eyes on. To be frank with you, sometimes it is difficult to know if our nightmare has stopped. Perhaps you are a monster in disguise and need to be put down." He motioned with his gun. "It would be best, good sir, if you proved yourself as human as you claim and stayed cowering on the floor while I fetch the bag. If not, we will have to assume the worse and send you back to the demon-spawned hell hole you came from. And if there is nothing wretched in that bag, as you claim, we will return it to you poste-haste."

Roll to persuade man: 3 - pass

Clarke went over and grabbed the bag. He brought it back to where Mike was standing. Slowly, he went through its contents.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Wed 04 Dec 2019.

In reply to trahernwithglasses (msg # 255):

At first it seems as if the man had been telling the truth. As Clarke rifles through the bag he finds clothes, trinkets, and a few valuables. But when he gets to the bottom Clarke find a number of vials filled with a mysterious silver liquid that seems to stick to the glass as the vial is turned.

As Clarke removes the vials from the bag the man blanches before he makes a sudden bolt for the door...

"Oh no you don't!" Mike exclaimed as he stuck his leg out to trip the man.

20:42, Today: Jrodimus rolled 36 using 1d100.  contested brawl roll to trip guy.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 257):

Mike's outstretched leg causes the man to stumble and slam into the doorframe before he tumbles into the hallway. Looking back in fear the man quickly scrambles to his feet hoping to make good on his escape.

Mike raised his revolver at the man as he tried to get up, "Stop or I'll shoot you bastard!"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Thu 05 Dec 2019.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 259):

As the man tumbled over Mike's foot and was about to land in a position to be in a getaway, Clarke lunged for him. Although age had taken its toll, he was not a small man and was able to manage a solid grab on the passenger's clothes.

"Do not make my friend splatter your brains all over this hallway," he growled.

In reply to trahernwithglasses (msg # 260):

Clarke's grasp on the man's clothes proves to be just that, his clothes, as the man slips out of his over shirt and begins to sprint down the hall

"Sonofabitch!" Mike snarled as he dashed out the door after the man.

16:22, Today: Jrodimus rolled 80 using 1d100.  Doing the chase .

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 262):

Right on his heels, Mike pursues the man down the hall. As he nears Mike lunges forward to tackle the man who at the last second dodges causing Mike to crash into the metal wall of the nearby cabin.

In reply to The Keeper of Secrets (msg # 263):

Clarke left the chase to his slightly younger friend and went back to the cabin to guard it. The man they had found there had not been Daniel, or if he had been, then he had some magical way to change his appearance at will. There was a high chance the person they were looking for might make his way back to his base of operations. In Clarke's experience, men like Daniel rarely contemplated that they might fail and never made appropriate backup plans.

Re-entering the turned-over cabin, he picked up the silver vials and watched the liquid-solid make its way along the tube. Looking long and hard at the substance, he tried to remember if he had heard or read anything about such an otherworldly chemical.

Roll for Occult: fail (89)

Nothing sprang to his mind, and he wondered if Byron or the Priest might know more.

Grunting as he slammed into the wall, Mike pushed off it to keep up momentum with all his might. He pursued his quarry with increasingly Haggard breathing.

22:33, Today: Jrodimus rolled 59 using 1d100.  Doing the chase part 2.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 265):

The man rounds the corner turning to the left which, unbeknownst to him, is a dead end. This allows Mike to catch up. As Mike rounds the corner he finds the man furiously attempting to turn the knob of a locked door to no avail

Mike turned the corner and saw the man fumbling with the door, he sprinted full speed and and attempted to tackle the man into the wall.

13:34, Today: Jrodimus rolled 79 using 1d100.  Brawl.

He just missed the man as he saw Mike coming and spun out of the way.

"You've lost." Mike said, "you still have a chance of making out of this alive."

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 267):

The man's eyes dart back and forth. "Daniel said getting rid of you would be easy. A couple of backwoods bumpkins were not match for him. He said stopping you would serve the Stone God of Babylon and gain us his favor. He said..." The man continues to babble, almost too fast to follow.

In reply to The Keeper of Secrets (msg # 268):

Mike holds his hands out in front of him to try to slow the man down, "Come back to your cabin quietly, tell us the whole truth of it, and we'll let you walk off this boat in Scotland and pretend we never saw you. What'd you say?"

Today: Jrodimus rolled 84 using 1d100.  persuade. Fail.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 269):

Finding his knowledge lacking about the vials, Clarke took in the rest of the cabin. He searched it for anything that might have been out of place.

Roll for spot hidden: Fail (58)

Unfortunately, similar to the vials earlier, he found his age had caught up to him. He made a mental note to ask Mike to inspect the place once he had returned.

In reply to trahernwithglasses (msg # 270):

Mike
Mike's words do little to soothe the man. "Just let me walk away now. I have nothing to say to you. Daniel would.." The man's mouth shuts with an audible snap. "Just let me go."

Clarke
In the back of Clarke's mind he can tell that he has seen vials like these before but he can't seem to grasp the thought. The room itself is an utter mess and despite his years of investigative experience he can't make heads or tails of anything

In reply to The Keeper of Secrets (msg # 271):

Clarke placed most of the vials back in the bag but wrapped one a handkerchief found on the floor and put it in his pocket. He glanced around quickly to see if there were any kinds of notebooks or papers, even the worthless kind, that might have been discarded in the rush.

In reply to trahernwithglasses (msg # 272):

Searching the room Clarke finds little of use. Just as he his about to quit he stumbles upon an overturned waste basket. Inside he finds three crumpled photos, photos of Mike, Clarke, and Byron.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:23, Sun 08 Dec 2019.

Feeling the man's attention start to slip, he brandishes his revolver, "We need answers. Unfortunately, you don't get to go home if you don't start giving them."

23:49, Today: Jrodimus rolled 3 using 1d100.  intimidate. Pass.

The man glanced down at the firearm. "To tell the truth, after all this mess that you and yours heaped on me and mine, I wouldn't mind putting a bullet in your skull now and throwing your body out to sea. But, you see, I'm a man a fair temper and fair mind," Mike said, the last sentence more for his own benefit than the cultist's own peace of mind.

In reply to Jrodimus (msg # 274):

"How do I know you won't just put a bullet in me if I go back to the cabin? Daniel said..." Again the man's mouth snaps shut and he seems to whiten with fear.

Mike looked at him, "Enough men have died today. You have my word, if you cooperate you keep your life and go free. If we can get to Daniel then you'll have nothing to worry about. But if you don't..." Mike gestured with the revolver meaningfully and shrugged.

What's another life?