Moth and mystery forgotten, Jake leapt toward the entry of the dinning room and put the wall to his shoulder as his eyes scanned the open foyer beyond.

OOC: basically trying to use the door way for some cover ... you know, just in case :)

The only light before him comes from the kitchen doorway, a bright slot of light. Someone in there seems to be yelling about vampires. As he watches, Dave stumbles back and hits the far doorpost, blood streaming from between his fingers where they're pressed hard to a wound near his throat.

The Dust Adder slides, buckles and half-falls half-kneels on the threshold, grimacing in pain. The intial shouting drops to urgent pleading, the words just too low to catch properly.

[[Due to Jake being prone to wandering off on his oddy through vampire territory, I don't think anyone actually knows where he is to shoot at right now, even if they were so minded...that'll only last 'til they see the candle, of course.]]

There are sounds from the stairs which suggest a decending clank.

It sounds like a woman speaking in the kitchen, Jake considers, presumably Abbie. She seems to be earnestly imploring someone not to do something, which is slightly odd since the young lady didn't seem the type to beg.

There is shortly a tremendous crash from upstairs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:27, Wed 23 July 2014.

Jake leaned back against the sideboard and blew out the candle he'd left there ... things were getting too crazy for him to be the only person in the light, too much like a target. Once the light died he waited a few minutes to let his eyes readjust, hoping that things would calm down some.

The clank heads for the kitchen, static pulsing loud with each distant roll of thunder outside. Whoever's pleading speaks more softly: there's a dull clatter from the kitchen and someone starts crying. Alouette halts to examine Dave, who tries feebly to scoot away from it.

[[Notice roll, the Jake!]]

OOC: SURE!
16:01, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 5,10 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+4)10. Notice.

"Repent," Alouette reminds the wounded Dave, paying no heed to what's in the room beside it. Dave rolls his tormented gaze that way, then back to the clank.

"Dammit...sure. You help Al and Percy, I'll..." he trails off, staring at the clank in horror as its brass fingers gently press against those of his own clamped over the wound. "Oh. Oh hell." The clank straightens, a dim shimmer of lines shifting and meshing around it as though sunlight slid sharp as the dawn of the world down the shafts of great folded wings.

"Done."

Scanning the foyer as his eyes adjust, Jake catches movement - a woman hastens cat-footed down the stairs holding a strange-looking gun. Her precise form and features are cloaked in darkness, but Jake can see by her movements that her whole body is tense, expecting trouble. A few steps from the foyer floor, she pauses, listening.

Jake's moth friend re-alights on his head and crawls its tickly way down towards his left eyebrow. The woman leans down, shaking her hair back, and gingerly picks up the piss bucket.

Jake glanced up at the moth perched on his brow, which proved to be a difficult and the creature was mostly out of focus. After a moment of this he turned his attention back to the girl with the piss bucket. Moving as quietly as he could, Jake followed after the curiosity of a woman.

Jake can just about make out a pair of anetennae waving down at him, though the moth flits off when he starts to move.

[[Gimmie Stealth and a Notice -4 (couple of visual things to notice here), Intrepid Jake]]

OOC:
14:40, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 8,0 using 1d4-2,1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+4+2)10,2. Stealth (Unskilled).
I am the night!

14:41, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 0,-1 using 1d8-4,1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Notice (-4 GM).
Bah ... I'll burn a white chip and reroll.
14:41, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 10,-1 using 1d8-4,1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of (8+6)14,3. White Chip.

Jake drifts towards the lady like a shadow as she pads alongside the stair cupboards, circling in on the kitchen from the more shadowed side. Her own feet make no sound across the floor, as though she went barefooted. Alouette retreats into the kitchen, Dave's attention following the metal angel as though the Word of God compelled him.

As he looks awat, the lady crosses the patch of light cast from the kitchen doorway, swift as a flitting bat. For the briefest instant, Jake can see her face.

It's the woman from the vision. As she passes back into darkness, Jake catches the flutter of something she didn't have before, on the stairs. A yellow something, one that seems to be made of paper. An instant later, Jake realises she's taken the prayer strip.


[[Jake continues to notice All The Things. Marina, however, failed spectacularly:

Marina Vanderholt rolled 1,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Notice? Blind as a bat. Reckon she's paying too much attention to goings-on in the kitchen.]]

Jake wanted to curse but knew better than to give up any advantage. This unknown woman had shown herself to be an enemy by releasing the creature he'd paused earlier. He paused behind a piece of furniture, crouched then leveled his Dragoon. Waiting a long moment before tapping into himself for fuel to unleash arcane fury upon this raven-colored foe. The shots came out in like blue and crimson lightning bolts which came arcing from his service pistol.

OOC: Let's see what 3x2d6 bolts can do ...
15:49, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,8,5,4 using 1d10,1d10,1d10,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,8,5,4. Spellcasting (Bolt 3x2d6).
Baring strangeness that's three hits ... might even have the drop as I'm so stealthy.
15:50, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 17,5,8 using 3d6,2d6,2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+4)10,3,4,1,3,5. Damage (Bolt w/ Raise, Bolt, Bolt).
That 17 is enough for 2 wounds

PP: 7/10

[[Presuming you're shooting Marina there, yes you had the Drop, which'd cancel out the Darkness penalty to aim...I'm a touch fuzzy on the mechanics of Jake's specific Bolt, but I presume his Spellcasting die off PP works the same way a ranged weapon would in the circumstances. Meanwhile, roll Agility.]]

There's a flash of stunned night-creature eyes, a shriek and the clang of the bucket hitting the floor. Dave about jumps out of his skin, throwing himself away from the pyrotechnics. "The Hell?!"

Jake cannot currently see anything clearly except the edge of the clock he's hiding behind and the afterimages scrawled across his vision, but by the smell of singed hair and flesh that was a definite hit.

OOC: Yep, the bolts were for Marina :)

16:33, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Agility.

Suddenly, the darkness lurches at Jake's left; a heavy, open palm smacks into the side of the clock, splintering wood, then strikes Jake's face.

The impact slaps him sideways, leaving thin scratches under his jaw, but then the other claw skids over the battered huckster's coat, doing no damage but putting Jake's shoulder in range of those teeth.

There's a sensation like being punched in the gut, hard enough to wind but no centre to the blow: a diffuse feeling of being suddenly without some intangible thing needed as badly as air...


[[So, it was peacefully sitting there topping up its arcane resistance when Jake put up the aetheric equivalent of a neon sign over his head reading 'FREE BUFFET!' there...

Tao Jing, rolled 1,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. hop hop? Ha, no.
Tao Jing rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. red chippit -> 6 Burst. Ouch for Jake, but not a raise...

Tao Jing rolled 11 using 2d10, rerolling max with rolls of 8,3. damage.
1 wound Shaken for Jake, plus some other effects (yeah, this thing touching you is bad...)
Tao Jing rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. chi loss. The jiang shi has eaten 4 of Jake's PP.

Also, roll Vigour -2 and draw init.]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:47, Wed 30 July 2014.

Jake gnashed his teeth and balled his left fist so tight that he almost started to bleed all so he would to remain as quiet as possible due to his mind working for once and useful information coming forward.

OOC: EEP! Vigor at -2
08:13, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -1,-1 using 1d6-2,1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. Vigor (-2 GM).
08:13, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,-1 using 1d6-2,1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. White Chip.
08:14, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Red Chip.
A White and Red chip later ... I get a 4.

Now to soak that wound ...
08:15, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,2 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Soak.
08:15, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 5,4 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. White Chip.
Wound soaked ... so 3 white chips and a red chip in 1 round ... ugh

08:16, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 2S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative .
And the hits just keep on coming ...

PP: 3/10

[[It's super infective! At least you get a chip back now?]]

Cloth tears; Jake slides down the wall with a stinging in his neck and shoulder breaking through the sensation of seemingly having his soul smothered whilst his heart still beat. The jiang shi is instantly at the wall and reaching stiff-armed for the sound, its talons tapping over the papered plaster.

The corpse feels the wall a moment, then shifts its attention to the clock, claws sliding and clicking over the wood. No breath passes its dead lips from the recent exertion. It taps its way up to the clockface, oblivious to Jake lying quiet and holding his breath at its feet.

[[As Jake isn't making any more sound/massive chi disruptions, Jingles is a little unsure where he is and so goes On Hold with his Joker Bonus to see whether Jake "reappears".]]

Over by the kitchen door, the lady picks herself up, wincing, looks up at the footsteps and increasing voices above, and bolts into the kitchen. Dave stares stupidly at where she passed. "Wha-?"

Similar reactions resound from within: it seems the vampire's too fast for most folk, but there's a distinct "No!" from Percy and a strange catlike hiss, followed by what sounds like a chair falling over. The jiang shi above Jake pauses to listen, mouth open and claws flexing wide.


[[Marina drops a chip to Unshake, being Invulnerable to all but her weaknesses, and legs it over Dave into the kitchen.

Marina Vanderholt, rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. fleeing! 7 squares later, y'all can't see her, but I know that puts her about level with Abbie and Percy.

I roll to see if anyone in there has the reflexes to react at all:

Abigail Bruebaker rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Agility.
Mighty Dave rolled 1,1 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2.
Percy Bradshaw rolled 1,4 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Agility.
Father William O'Rourke, rolled 2,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Agility.
Alouette rolled 2,2 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Agility.

The priest is busy right now, but has the presence of mind to draw in next round if he likes. Percy throws himself in front of Abbie and tries to grapple Marina as she passes his melee range:

Percy Bradshaw rolled 2,3 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4. grab the vampire!
Marina Vanderholt rolled 14,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+6)14,2. be not grabbed!

It doesn't work.

Initiative!
Jingles the jiangshi BJ! (on Hold)
Marina Vanderholt KS
Bitter Waters 2S

Go, Jake, go!]]

OOC:

For next round:

15:24, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: 10C using the Deadlands system.

Also, Adrian will grab the bucket on his way downstairs, if it is still around.

There's a further static crackle from the kitchen.

[[Noted, and no, the bucket isn't where Jake left it. NB unless Adrian makes a free Notice at -4 on his action (since none of y'all stopped for a light source) or someone who knows/can see in the dark tells him, he has no way to know the jiang shi's loose.]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:05, Thu 31 July 2014.

09:32, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: KD using the Deadlands system. Initiative, Quick Edge.
09:32, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 5C using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

Jake's eyes narrowed on the creature who'd just taken a part of his soul or so he'd think if he had time to or if the adrenaline rushing through him wasn't causing his heart to pound hard enough to sound like a big bass drum in his ears.

Got to keep this thing from getting to anyone else as long as I can ... and hopefully not get myself killed.

His Dragoon barked three times as Jake fanned the big gun's hammer, sending a trio of bullets towards the jiang shi. He pushed off the wall and clock trying to send himself sliding across the floor towards a nearby side table.

OOC: fannin' and moving ... fingers crossed.
09:41, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,-2,3,4 using 1d8-4,1d8-4,1d8-4,1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2,7,(6+2)8. Fannin' the Hammer.
09:41, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -2,0,1,-1 using 1d8-4,1d8-4,1d8-4,1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4,5,3. White Chip.
That's a whole lot of misses ... the 4 MIGHT hit if he's not in melee range
09:42, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 13 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+3)9. Damage (AP 1).
09:42, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 3H using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative .

((OOC: 10:35, Fri 01 Aug 2014: The Amazing Evans drew the single card: 6C using the Deadlands system.))

The corpse whips round to face the source of the bullets, seemingly unhampered by the one that ricochets off its middle.

[[Give me an Agility roll, the Jake.

Y'all non-cateyed folk on the stairs can tell someone on the floor's shooting at a standing figure by the muzzle flash.]]

OOC: One agility roll
13:41, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 10,2 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10,2. Agility.

[[Tao Jing rolled 4,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. agility!
Jake moves out of easy nom range uninterrupted.]]

The jiang shi pounces on the spot where Jake had been, feeling around with those black claws. Swiftly deciding he's not there, the hopping corpse straightens stiffly and raises its head, turning it back and forth. The surrounding air seems to become slightly colder.

[[Jingles notices the chi-feel of a thing that injured him before (Evans' pistol) and decides to draw in power in case it's still a threat. (He's only got 2 points of Arcane Resistance right now and will have to start maintaining it round after next.)

Tao Jing rolled 7,6 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. chi boost (Vigour), which nudges his Toughness to 10.

Initiative!
Tao Jing RJ! (I kid you not)
William Pierce KD
Percy Bradshaw QD
Adrian Vega 10C
Marina Vanderholt 8S
Widow Bradshaw 7D
Ambrosius Botticelli Evans 6C
Father O'Rourke 5H
Jake Lawrence 3H

Grey folk are in the kitchen.

Incidentally, I've forgotten my rationale for the extra -2 to visual Notice (I did have one, honest), so Adrian/Evans/Bradshaw can make Notice checks at the Dark penalty (-2) only if William/Jake doesn't give them a heads-up about what they're fighting. Anyway, Jingles...more superhopping, why not?]]

Another four rapid heartbeats. Just as it seems the jiang shi's failed to follow the sound of the sliding man, some fractional movement of Jake's shunts his table back the barest fraction. The undead lunges.

[[Tao Jing, rolled 6,7 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. hop hop?
Jake the Loud, Agility vs. 7, or get nommed on!]]