The guard had been on the verge of a response when a burst of movement came from the door of the waiting room outside Gavigan's office. He had been in a tense moment, a standoff with the woman opposite him, when a figure had burst through the door with a gun, the hammer clicking loudly as it was pointed at him. Instinctively, he pulled up the rifle and fired it, hitting his target.

---

OOC:

On account of the tense situation and the guard being on high alert, I let the guard roll off with everyone, and he comes to the top of the order for the first round.

Now regular combat order commences. This is everyone in the standard DEX order (assuming they're shooting). Everyone either has a gun that allows more than one shot per round or is an expert shooter.

The guard hit Vincent, doing 6 damage to our resident Italian stallion - just low enough to avoid Shock.

Everyone is in Point Blank range. This means that your Shooting skill is doubled (accordingly increasing your chance to get a critical).

Order:
Guard
Vincent
Rosalie
Tommy
Vincent
Guard
Rosalie

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:42, Fri 17 Feb 2017.

As their eyes met in grim determination Tommy nodded.


I guess Vincent's action will occur before this? Anyway, so as not to hold things up:
13:23, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 21 using 1d100 with rolls of 21.  Luck.
13:23, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 37 using 1d100 with rolls of 37.  Dex.
13:21, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 79 using 1d100 with rolls of 79.  Incase 'keeper needs it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:42, Fri 17 Feb 2017.

"You pull one of these, eventually you're gonna get shot. Nature of the business. Do yourself a favor and get over being afraid of it. Right now."

Moretti had been seventeen, sitting across from Joe Masseria, a revolver sitting on the table between them, when those words were spoken. He'd considered the advice silently for a few minutes, then resolved to accept it. When he picked up the weapon, he found himself suddenly curious about when death would find him. Where he would be, how many years he would have managed to collect when the day arrived. Ever since, he'd been quietly anticipating its arrival.

His gambit had worked. The guard's attention had gone to him, the man's reaction to the threat immediate. Moretti recognized that his own response was slow, his reflexes possibly dulled by his need to be certain that he had captured the watchman's focus.

He felt the bullet tear through him, the pain momentarily distant, suffocated by his own stubborn determination. He took aim and returned fire.

10:34, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 15 using 1d100 with rolls of 15.  Firearm - Handgun.

10:34, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 8 using 1d10+2 with rolls of 6.  Damage - Handgun.

The guard nearly dropped his rifle as the blood began to flow from his midsection. He stumbled back, catching the desk with his free hand and slumped down against it on the ground, leaning against the desk, his eyes closed and the gun dropping from his fingers as he seemed to lose consciousness.

Out of nowhere, Tommy came hurtling through the air, slamming into the guard's unconscious body, a move that because of the angle at which the guard was resting against the desk cracked his neck, his head now lolling uselessly at the side.

OOC:

Combat is over.

Moretti returned his pistol to his waistband and shifted his shoulders, testing the pain in his trunk. The wound throbbed, but it was tolerable. He'd taken beatings that had left him in worse shape.

He looked to Rosalie as he stepped over to Cotton. "Are you alright?" he asked, his expression concerned. Reaching down, he gave the reporter a hand up. "Nobody should ever question if you're game for a fight, paisan."

He glanced down at the corpse and crossed himself, speaking quietly. "Santa Maria, Madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatoti, adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte. Amen."

Crouching down, he looked up at the others. "We need to move quickly. Tommy, could you look upstairs? See if the mirror is up there? I'd do it, but I'm afraid you're going to be able to move a lot faster than I can at this point." He gestured to the dead man. "I'm going to get him out of sight. Put him in Gavigan's study." He shifted his attention to Rosalie. "You could use the phone. Call Avery. See if he's heard from the others."

Reaching in his coat pocket, he drew his flask from his pocket. He took a pull from it, then offered it to Rosalie and Cotton.

Rosalie screamed as the shot rang out, as shocked by Vincent's sudden appearance as the guard had been.  Time slowed to a crawl, and she watched helplessly as the rifle barrel rose and aimed at her friend.  The crack was deafening in the closed space.  She didn't remember backpedaling, but found herself pressed against the wall when the guard dropped.  Tommy's attack barely registered.  One hand covered her mouth as she stared in horror at the pool of blood slowly spreading across the floor.

---

"He's gone, Rosie," Gemma murmured.  "He was too far gone."

Rosalie looked at the blood covering her hands, still wet and slick, vibrant crimson in the sunlight.  Only moments before it had been pumping from the man's side, spurting through her fingers as she vainly tried to stop the torrent.  Shuddering, she wiped her hands on her apron which had once been pristine white and crisply starched.  Now, it wore a grisly patina that would likely never come clean.  Much like Rosalie, it would always carry with it the stains of war.

"You'll learn to identify which you can help and which are beyond it.  Some men just need a pretty face to look at one last time before they go.  We're here for that as much as we are to help the doctors."  There was a hollowness to their instructor's words and pity in the nurse's eyes as she looked up at her fresh-faced recruits.  "When there's nothing else for it, offer a few words of reassurance and comfort.  No man should have to die scared and alone.  Then wash up and move on to the next."

Rosalie stared down at the dead soldier as the seasoned nurse closed his eyes and murmured a prayer, crossing herself after.  Though her parents had never been particularly religious, Rosalie copied the gesture, though it gave her no comfort.  She could still see the man's glassy-eyed expression staring at her as the last breath of life fled from his body.

"Wash up and move on, like they said," Gemma prodded quietly.  It may have been harsh, but it was needed to rouse Rosalie from her momentary shock.  The green-eyed Irish girl gave her hand a squeeze.  "Let's get more bandages, Rosie.  We're going to need them."

---

"What did you do?" Rosalie asked in shock, staring at the dead man on the floor, one more face to add to the hundreds that still haunted her.  "What did you do?!"  Her eyes flashed to Vincent.

She slapped away the flask he offered and then struck him hard across the cheek.  "He didn't even have his gun pointed at me!  You didn't give him a chance to respond.  I could have brought him to you.  You could have knocked him out.  But... but... now he's dead!  We came to find the mirror, not to murder a man that was just doing his job!"

Tears were flowing freely and there was little she could do to stop the torrent.  "YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED!  HE SHOT AT YOU!"  Her gaze fell to Vincent's blood-soaked shirt.  "Bloody hell... he shot you!"

Trying not to step in the growing pool of blood, she fished out her first aid kit.  Despite her distress, her hands were amazingly steady.  Her eyes, though, were like smoldering embers as she approached Vincent to bandage his wound.  "If you'd died, I would have followed you to the afterlife to kill you a second time," she said bitterly.  "Insufferable fool..."

With brisk efficiency, she tended to Vinnie's gunshot, ignoring his discomfort (not to mention the bare expanse of skin) as she pulled his shirt up and away from the wound and sprinkled it with styptic powder to help staunch the bleeding.  The bandage she wound about his torso was just a fraction too tight, and the look in her eyes dared him to protest the rough treatment.

"We'll have to dig that bullet out when we have the time," she said coolly.  Though she was once again composed and in control of her emotions, her words were clipped and her tone unforgiving.

After checking her own injury and applying a numbing cream to her cheek where she'd been struck, she put her things back in order and moved to use the phone to contact Avery.  Her angry gaze landed on Tommy as she passed.  "Well talk about how stupid your little move was later."


First Aid - Rosalie
Recovered 1 HP

First Aid - Vincent
Recovered 3 HP

22:01, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 33 using 1d100 with rolls of 33.  First Aid (80).
22:04, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 1 using 1d3 with rolls of 1.  Hit Point Recovery.

22:01, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 49 using 1d100 with rolls of 49.  First Aid (80).
22:04, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 3 using 1d3 with rolls of 3.  Hit Point Recovery.

Moretti didn't flinch when she struck him. How many times had he been cuffed while he was coming up? As a mere soldato, it was often the manner displeasure with his actions was communicated. Masseria, Spano, Pietro Mancini. Each one of them had struck him when he had acted in a manner that was unacceptable. To some degree, he'd become philosophical about it. You learned to become comfortable with violence by experiencing it.

He was silent when she bandaged his injury, numb to the physical pain, more acutely aware of her rage. Feeling a need to defend his actions, he said, "Rosalie, he wasn't just doing his job. He knew something. I sensed it. Tommy sensed it, too. A man in his profession is familiar with thieves. He understands that they only want to steal, not hurt people. He had no cause to..."

He stopped himself. It was pointless. It wasn't the guard. It was the fact that now she saw him for what he was. He would just have to learn to live with her hatred. "No. You're right. You're absolutely right. This is what you should have expected when you and Leo chose to bring feccia like me into this business." He gestured to the corpse. "Murders like his? I don't feel anything about them. Nothing. Make no mistake, Rosalie. I'm every bit as ruthless as the malvagità we're hunting." He buttoned his shirt closed and shrugged. "At least now you're finally able to grasp the truth."

He looked to Cotton. "I'll meet you upstairs as soon as I've dealt with the body."

He stripped the guard's jacket from him, wrapping it tightly around the fatal wound to momentarily halt any seepage of blood. Taking a grip under each of his arms, he dragged him quickly down the hallway to the storage room. After opening the sarcophagus, he threw the body over one shoulder and slowly descended the stairs, mindful of the trap he'd left behind. Once below, he placed the body in a corner of the room, one that would not be immediately visible to someone above.

Tommy's shoulder struck the guard in the chest and even as the body slumped Tommy felt him go limp as a sickening visceral crack signaled the end.
The reporter's heart was pounding and for a moment he crouched over the unmoving corpse, half expecting it to move or its eyes to flicker open in sudden revenge. Instead the pool of sticky blood formed and Tommy stood.

Rosalie was already caring for Vincent. Cotton took a few steps closer to help the Italian steady himself propping him up while Rosalie cooly did her work. His shoulder itched and while the others spoke he barely listened, instead scanning the stairs and rest of the hall incase the noise had somehow alerted another opponent.

When at last Vincent seemed mended Tommy nodded and stood.
"I'll be as quick as I can. See if you can find a phone here to call the others while I'm up there.".

Without waiting for a response Tommy hurried up the main stairs to begin a sweep of the upper floor.

I'm assuming there is a phone on the main desk we could use? I'm also assuming that tracing who made calls in the 1920's was harder (i.e. they cant just hit redial to find Avery's number if we use their phone).
Anyway, for Tommy's search of the upper floor, here are 5 spot hidden rolls (3/5 successful)
11:42, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 270 using 5d100 with rolls of 94,63,79,26,8.  5xspot hiddens vs 70.


</small>

Rushing up the stairs, Thomas finds himself in a large room that is filled to the brim with glass cases, mummies, and an array of statues and other artifacts on pedastals throughout the room. Moving carefully between them, he makes a circuit of the room. Broad and tall windows graced the room on all sides, the floors were finished in marble, and a twenty foot vaulted ceiling gave the room the feeling of a museum, along with its contents. Along the front side of the building were three rooms that seemed well suited for the examination and study of artifacts. Moving along to the backside of the room there were three locked doors and the rear staircase that he knew would lead him back down to the first floor again. 

---

OOC:

You can find a telephone in the waiting room to Gavigan's office at his secretary's desk and one at Gavigan's desk. And yes, you can assume that 1920's telephony is significantly more rudimentary than the conveniences we have today.

Once the body was placed in the study below, Moretti returned to the first floor. After closing the sarcophagus, he moved as quickly as he was able across the hall and up the stairs to the second level.

Rosalie paused first in the washroom to wash Vincent's blood from her hands and then headed back into Gavigan's office.  She stopped at the secretary's desk and picked up the phone.  "Connect me to Strand forty-three forty-three, please," she asked the operator.  When the front desk answered, she asked for her uncle's suite where Avery would be waiting.

When it became apparent the upper floor at least seemed unoccupied Tommy called back down the stairs "Seems clear up here. 3 locked doors-I'm getting to work.".

The reporter moved swiftly to the first closed portal and knelt to begin picking the lock.

(On mobile so struggling to use dice roller-go ahead and roll for me or I will update the post myself later)

Tommy managed to open two of the locked doors, though he struggled a bit with a third. The rooms he opened were both filled  with  flat-file  drawers  containing  what appeared to be countless  carefully  evaluated  and  catalogued  artifacts. Understanding them further was beyond his ability.

"Coming up," Moretti called as he mounted the stairs. When he reached the upper floor, he scanned the area briefly, then moved to join Cotton at the locked doors.

Watching the reporter at work momentarily, Moretti knelt at the door that had given Cotton trouble, doing his best to unlock it.

08:02, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 13 using 1d100 with rolls of 13.  Locksmith - Locksmith 70%.

Opening the third door, Vincent found the same as what Tommy had found in the other two rooms.

"Merda," he muttered, stepping back and gazing at the contents of the three rooms. No sign of the mirror. If it could do what the writings claimed it could, Gavigan and the Brotherhood were going to use it to strike out at the Elias family, and the fault for any who came to harm would lie at his feet. It had been his failing that left the damned thing in the hands of their enemies. More blood to atone for. Like the watchman.

He needed to stop, he realized soberly. This idea that somehow, by helping to seek justice for Jackson, he could gain some measure of redemption, it was an illusion. A dying man's last minute hope for an appeal that would forestall a just punishment. However much he would wish differently, he had told Rosalie the absolute truth. The Brotherhood murdered those who got in the way of their aims, just as Joe Masseria did. No difference between the two. No difference at all.

His mindset had to change to have any hope of functioning as he was needed. He served the Eliases like he served the Morello crime family. Protect those that mattered. Kill those who opposed their aims. No more, no less. If he survived, he returned to New York, to the violent world that he understood. If not, he could be assured that his Mama and Emily would remember him, light a candle for him at Mass. For one such as himself, it was better than he deserved.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. The mirror. He looked to Cotton. "I'm going to check one other place, but I don't think it's here. Not unless it's tucked in a corner that we've somehow overlooked." He moved to the stairwell. "I'll be back up in a minute."

Returning to the first floor, he entered the last room on the left side of the hall, the one that was connected to the loading bay doors. Switching on his flashlight, he surveyed the area and its contents carefully.

10:39, Today: Vincent Moretti rolled 56 using 1d100 with rolls of 56.  Spot Hidden - Spot Hidden 60%.

Vincent found himself in what appeared to be a staff room, with a few comfortable looking chairs and some tables that people could seat themselves around, and nothing more. He found an elevator door there as well, but no mirror was in this room.

Tommy grunted approval without looking up from the files he was studying as Vincent made his way back downstairs.
The deep draws of paperwork were intimidating, but the reporter was no stranger to scanning a library or public record for information.
On a hunch he examined the filing system, trying to understand how items were categorised. If they were indexed by name he would look for anything relating to the Carlyle expedition. If they were categorised by region he would scan the Egypt section for anything dated around that same expedition or anything that seemed led by Aubery Penhew.

OOC:

Please give me a Library Use roll and also tell me how long you plan to spend doing this.

Stepping back into the hallway, Moretti moved in the direction of the main entrance, pausing to shine his flashlight into the two library rooms and the office on his right. Upon drawing close to the watchman's desk, he moved to the left, stepping inside each of the offices that were adjacent to the guard's station to search them.

OOC: Please let me know if there are any rolls you need from me, Keeper.

21:57, Today: Thomas Cotton rolled 36 using 1d100 with rolls of 36.  Library vs 55.

Regards time, I assume only 5-10 minutes unless Tommy gets the feeling he is on to something (like, if he finds anything on the Carlyle expedition, or a whole section on Aubrey Penhew in Egypt...and even then I think we would just grab the files without reading in depth).

Basically killing time until Vincent returns and Rosalie finishes the call. Then we are taking Vincent to his own safe house ;)

"It's me," she said to the voice on the other end.  "No, we haven't quite found what we're looking for here.  Yes, yes, we're quite safe.  Has anyone else checked in?  Oh goodness! If they call again, please tell them that we are all in grave danger.  They know who we are and intend to deal with us.  We will be headed over to the others shortly.  I will check in again, if I can.  Oh, I do have one request.  Could you please make inquiries on a place called Misr House?  We will need to know where it is located when we return."

"Thank you, dear.  Yes, we will try to stay safe.  I will check in again, if I can.  Do be careful."  She hung up the extension and set the phone back on the desk, looking down with a sigh.

Leaving the office, she headed upstairs to find Tommy and Vincent.  The second floor felt like home to her and she began wandering through the various artifacts with interest, searching for any sign of the mirror, but also drawn to the massive amount of history carefully organized in the room.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:12, Wed 08 Mar 2017.

"That is unfortunate Miss Elias, I would have hoped you'd have had better luck. I'm glad to hear that you're safe. Yes, I have heard from them. Apparently they have lost contact with Mr. Bishop, and are searching for him. Dr. Elias suggested that I ask that you take on their next stop for the night, but if they are in danger as you say, perhaps it's best that you join them instead," he said.

"I will attempt to make inquiries into the Misr House, but the hour is quite late and I'm uncertain as to what I can accomplish from the room. Please be careful."

This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Wed 08 Mar 2017.

Tommy can't find a section on Egypt, but he realized later that there wouldn't be one, given that Egyptology was the sole focus on the institute. He also couldn't find a section on the Carlyle Expedition.

In perusing the room, Rosalie also sees no trace of the mirror. What she does find is quite an academically interesting collection of artifacts and documents related to Egypt.

Vincent's sweep of the various rooms on the lower floor is equally fruitless. There is no sign of the mirror that he saw in the spice merchant's shop.

Letting the last heavy draw slide closed Tommy stood.
Nothing on The Carlyle expedition. Weird.

He frowned and took one final circuit of the upper floor, mentally picturing the space of the building to reassure himself there was no hidden area he had somehow missed. 'Bo and Bishop had said the mirror was in the place, but then again they hadn't watched the joint all day. It must have moved.

Hurrying back down the steps he reconvened with his comrades in the main hallway.
"Did you manage to get through to the others Rosalie?".
He glanced at Vincent with a frown.
"We need to get you some rest buddy. How you holdin' up?".

Ready to move on. I think we've taken care of the body and cleaned up the main hall...so only the evil cult should know about the break in (when they find the body) so they will need to deal with the police (or hopefully dispose of the body without bothering the police).