ooc: Hahahahahaha! That's so funny!!

As Penny starts to sing, Yasmin seems distracted. And, a little ways off, Ian, still bleeding heavily, gives a laugh and weakly sings along with you as best he can, his fine baritone blending smoothly with your voice. Peter, still firing bullet after bullet in a dizzying display of skill, swears. Have you two gone crazy?! But Loki seems to pick up on the cue for a second later the fog starts to blow away, though it is a subtle and gradual thing. If you meet his eye he gives you a level look, which is admittance enough. Now that she can see properly, Lily takes advantage and she smashes Yasmin in the face so hard that blood sprays everywhere. The woman retaliates though by sending the Native flying through the air so far that she slams into the side of the cliff and falls in a heap, blood dripping from her ears and nose. Loki looks panicked as Yasmin steps menacingly towards her fallen foe. Do something! Get up Lily! He's frantic. He moves up to Yasmin, only inches away, face livid. Get back NOW! She smirks in his face and you realize now that he's only an inch away from finally intervening. At this point it might be the only hope you have. He just needs an extra little push...

ooc: Ok, fog is gone so no miss chance anymore. You can shoot or try to persuade him and roll a check for it or both or whatever floats your boats! :)

Alice shouted, ”Trickster, act, or the fallen one you care for will die.”

I think Lily is Loki’s child. I hope I’m right.
11:23, Today: Mary-Alice Reussoe Conner rolled 22 using 1d20+11.  Displomacy.

With perceptive eyes, Penny looked between Loki and Lily. She'd not yet learned of the nephelim's true parentage, beyond knowing that it could only be an angel. But why else would Loki, if that was indeed his real name, show such fear and concern for her? Even Alice could see it. Did that make Loki, not a Norse god, but an angel?

Still, Penny did not dare miss a beat in her music-hall tune, nor her moment to seize the advantage won as the smoke blew away in a welcome breeze. She rushed on Yasmin, yelling the words to her song, feeling insanely inspired by them.

'I think ev'ryone in London should have heard her
Shouting, 'Fireworks' and 'Blue Murder!'

She swung her iron-cored ash cane, making a well-aimed stunning strike at Yasmin's head.

'We had a struggle to hold her down
And 'twas hard work there's no doubt.'

The next blow was lighter, but no less accurate, as Penny jabbed the cane at Yasmin's mid-section. She tried to catch Loki's eye, silently pleading as she fought, and as she sang the last lines.

'She fell with such a bump and it fairly broke her heart
When there came a puff of wind and blew it out.'


OOC:
1: Attack 23, damage 7
2: Attack 9, action point +11 for 22, damage 3

Yasmin roars in fury at Penny, obviously angered at having been interrupted, and she flings you back several feet. Everything happens at once then. Crimwall seems spent, and he collapses on his knees. Without him, the arrows are free to find their marks now and should you look up you'll see hundreds of them, about to rain down on you. You brace yourself for the pain, the quick death, if you're lucky, but just as they fall but ten feet from you, an incredible gust of wind sends them hurtling back. The wind is so powerful, in fact, that all the Bedouin still pouring up the path go flying, falling down the mountain to their deaths. Somehow, you are rooted in place, not so much as a hair on your head is rustled. Yasmin, though, is lifted into the air as if by invisible hands, each holding her by one of her limbs. She looks about wildly, accusingly towards Loki. You can't intervene! It is forbidden! You can't! she screeches. The invisible hands holding her start to pull, her limbs stretching in different directions. She screams, in complete agony and you watch in horror as the inevitable happens. It's awful and Crimwall especially looks upset. What's left of her is flung away in the wind and then, as suddenly as it came, it disappears. All that's left of the fray is you and your companions, dazed and still on the mountaintop. Loki, his face cold and hard mutters to no one in particular, Well, that's odd weather, wouldn't you say?

Alice laughed as she helped Crimwell to his feet and began fussing over his clothing. ”Are you kidding, Sir? Surely you are, Ive seen dust devils come and go much quicker than that. Isn’t that right, Penny? Why we saw one just the other day if memory serves.”

After flying back, hitting the hot dirt with a hard thud, Penny was picking herself up and collecting her wits when she looked up and saw the arrows falling like rain over them all. The legend of the Persians at Thermopylae was right – they did blot out the sun. Penny braced, and closed her eyes, full of fear and regrets.

But no pain.

She opened her eyes, and bore witness to an astonishing scene – astonished as much by what happened as that her gambit had actually worked. And then she was transfixed in horror at the deaths of the bewitched but innocent Bedouin, and at Yasmin's awful fate. But it was over, it was done.

Wearily, with aching body and any bleeding wounds, Penny climbed to her feet and staggered along the cliff-side trail back to the others. 'Don't ask me, I'm from Devon. I don't know what to expect from desert weather.' she muttered hollowly, looking around for Ian.

Then she saw him, a terrible bleeding wound in his gut. 'IAN!' Penny shouted in alarm, hurrying to his side.

Crimwall is absolutely shaking, and you surmise this might just have been his first actual fight, for he has that dazed, shocked look mixed greatly with relief. He lets Alice touch his clothing as much as she likes.

Loki gives a half smile, dry and bitter but there nonetheless. Lily starts to her feet and he takes her hand and lifts her up, concern on his face. Are you alright? he asks quietly. She's badly bloodied but she gives an irritated nod. I had her you know. You didn't have to do that. I don't know what you mean, he says innocently, his mild smile a twitch wider.

By now Penny has made it to Ian's side, and Peter is on his other, face grim. I'm sorry. He took more than one bullet. I'm...I'm so sorry. To your surprise, the man seems shaken. It would seem that, cur or not, Peter really is upset about his companion's fate. Indeed, as you look at Ian's wound, there is an incredible amount of blood and his face is white as a sheet. By now he's on his back, looking up at the bright blue sky. You've a lovely voice Miss Dreadful, he manages to say, giving you a weak wink.

After a moment Alice realized something g was wrong. She shook Crimwell hard to break his malaise. ”Ian, you must help him. Please, help him!”

Ashen-faced, Penny slumped to her knees at Ian's side, heedless of dirt on an already ragged, bloody, and grubby dress, and took his hand in hers, both so frail. There were so many feelings she'd had since meeting the dashing Scotsman all that time ago, feelings she'd dared not give thought or voice to, and now she longed to but the words were choked by fear. 'But Dreadful is how I sing.' she managed at last with a watery smile. At a moment like this, it was still easier for Penny to focus on flippant words and the mission at hand, perhaps because it was so difficult to do otherwise. She turned her head to Alice, saying 'Fetch the scroll and tell Emma we must transport back to New York immediately.'

Fussing about, Penny produced a small first-aid kit from her pack, slipped out instruments and bandages, then turned her attention to Ian's terrible injuries. And admitted, voice hollow and trembling, 'I... I'm not sure I know what to do.' She reached up and brushed some of Ian's sweat-dampened hair back off his brow, adding 'But you are not to do anything foolish like dying, Mister Shaw. We still need you... I need you.' Then, feverishly, she worked to cut away the clothing, clean the wounds with alcohol, stop bleeding, bandage, and all else that was required.


OOC: Treat Injury 17, should just beat the DC 15 to stabilize or restore.
21:05, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 12 using 1d20+7.  treat injury, inc. +5 Hunter bonus.
21:09, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 5 using 2d6.  action point.

Alice nodded and was half way turned around but stopped. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flask. She didn’t pause to explain  she got down and said, ”Open your mouth, Ian.” She remembered the words of the strange woman who had given it to her. “One drop at a time. Just one drop at a time.”

Hell with that, she thought and she poured half the contents into his mouth.

Using “Vial of Healing Liquid”
One drop heals 10 HP, 40 drops.
Alice will feed 20 drops to Ian, 200 HP

ooc: I figured that thing would come in handy someday ;P

IC: Ian gives a weak smile at Penny's words, but says nothing, just laying there as his eyes grow heavy. Your healing does slow the bleeding, and stabilize him, but he's still fluttering in and out of consciousness. You think he'll live though. If something more can be done quickly.

That's when Alice comes to the rescue. She has to open his mouth for him, he's too dazed now to do even that much, and at first nothing happens, and you wonder if you just wasted a precious gift on a dead man. But then, he chokes, and coughs and turns to his side, gasping for air. He struggles a moment, then sits upright, feeling where his wound was. What the hell?! That stuff is stronger than a fairy moon! he stammers. A drink a friend of mine made up. Pure absinthe mixed with moonshine. You'd think you were kicked in the head by a horse. Whatever you gave me, he shakes his head, Feels like five horses! Then he laughs and staggers to his feet. But right now I feel like I could take on all those Bedouins myself! Thank you!

The others watch with surprise, Peter even breaking into a grin. Oh, so I'm going to be stuck with your sorry face a while longer am I? he smirks. Try not to get shot so much next time. First rule for hunters. Don't get shot. The grin widens.

Just then Emma comes rushing out of the cave. I'm done! I'm done! We can go whenever you're ready! she seems in a hurry, frantic even, until she looks around and sees the threat has been removed. Oh. Well then. Ian laughs at this, obviously feeling more than better, and he turns to Penny and his smile softens, a touch of awkwardness as he mumbles, Thanks for your help too Penny. I owe you too.

Alice grinned as Ian came back to the land of the living in full. She winked at Penny and said, ”My work here is done.” She put the little vial away and stood. She walked to Crimwell and threw her arms around him. ”Take me away from all this.”

Penny just stared in absolute astonishment, the depths of dread abruptly changing to the height of happiness, with tears welling in her blue eyes for both. She had no words, no analytical observations, just wonder and relief, joy and understanding. She'd worked desperately hard to treat Ian's injuries, yet Alice's potion had been a miracle. As he turned to her, Penny trembled with feeling and anticipation, looked at Ian for a long moment and murmured 'No, you don't.' Then suddenly she stepped forward and threw her arms around his broad shoulders, hugging him tightly and thankfully.

Crimwall looks stunned by Alice's forwardness, but, after a moment's hesitation, he breaks into a laugh and hugs her back, albeit awkwardly. Uh...indeed! I think a hasty departure is a fine idea. he mumbles, blushing hotly.

Meanwhile, as Penny embraces him, Ian does not hesitate to return the favor, holding you so tightly you almost can't breathe, but in the very best sense. It's a rare, uninhibited moment of intimacy and he rests his chin on top of your head, you feel that he is more himself than he's been since the Djinn so many weeks ago.

Wow. What get a room you guys, Loki says drily, though you're not sure which of you he means. There's a mischievous twinkle in his eyes though and Peter laughs, appreciating the joke perhaps a little too much. Both men release each of you, Crimwall quite a bit faster than Ian though. The Scotsman, however, is in too good a mood to be embarrassed. Jest all you like trickster. If we ever find something like a pub in this desert, I'm buying you a drink. I don't care if you can wave one out of thin air, it doesn't count. He laughs. Loki chuckles back, two similarly humored men sharing a smile, but Emma brings them back to more important matters. I hate to spoil our victory, but perhaps we ought to get back to the scroll? Penny? she arches an expectant brow at Penny, holding up the scissors.

ooc I can't remember, did you already roll a check for cutting it? Feel free to roll again if it's easier.

Once she was released from Ian's embrace, Penny breathed deeply (though not for the tightness of the hug) and felt a little warm (and not wholly for the desert heat and recent exertion). Face flushed, she fussed over adjusting her attire and hat, as grimy and bloody and torn as they now were, anything to hide how she felt. Showing good manners to a god was a necessary and welcome distraction. 'Ah, yes, indeed, thank you very much for your assistance, Mister Loki – in finding the scroll, of course, not for the simply inexplicable weather around these parts.'

Brought back by Emma to the vital task she'd been about to undertake, Penny returned to the cave to fetch the fragile copper scroll and the anachronistic cordless battery-operated electric saw supplied by Loki. 'Yes, of course. I shall require a quiet laboratory and several hours of uninterrupted careful work... But I suppose I shall just have to make do with a cave in the desert and few minutes of crude and hurried hacking.' she sighed.


OOC: I didn't do it earlier, the battle interrupted us. With Craft (mechanical) +5, I'd Take 20 for 25 if I could. But if I have to roll, then I have... 13. My luck has returned. :(
17:37, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  craft (mechanical).
17:40, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 3 using 2d6.  action point.

Alice followed and watched Penny. This was not a time for shooting things, so Alice stood back and watched.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:42, Wed 17 June 2020.

ooc: Lucky for Penny I'm good with taking a 20 ;P

Opening the scroll takes forever. At least that's how Peter describes it as he and the others wait. Penny, of course, is taking as much care as she possibly can. It doesn't help that Loki often leans over your shoulder to ask, How's it goin? The fact that everyone must wait in the sweltering heat and dust doesn't help, but your focus kicks in and you somehow put them all behind you.

The actual scroll itself ends up being a massive pain to dismantle. It would be so easy to damage the thing and by the time you're done your hands are shaking from trying to control the wretched machine. You end up cutting it into about two dozen pieces and then you carefully have to line them up in order to read them, pulling out your spectacles to do so. It is overwhelming. It seems to be coordinates for treasures and tithes and other such things, and they seem to assume that you have an intimate knowledge of where to start. An example of such descriptions being:  "Forty two talents lie under the stairs in the salt pit ... Sixty five bars of gold lie on the third terrace in the cave of the old Washers House ... Seventy talents of silver are enclosed in wooden vessels that are in the cistern of a burial chamber in Matia's courtyard. Fifteen cubits from the front of the eastern gates, lies a cistern. The ten talents lie in the canal of the cistern ... Six silver bars are located at the sharp edge of the rock which is under the eastern wall in the cistern. The cistern's entrance is under the large paving stone threshold. Dig down four cubits in the northern corner of the pool that is east of Kohlit. There will be twenty two talents of silver coins."

Even just reading that much is mind numbing. All the entries are worded such, and though you are fascinated and more than a little tempted to go seeking such treasures even just for the sheer history of it, a look from Loki keeps you on task. Solomon, Solomon...it takes a while but you finally find mention of it.


Loki watches Penny's face as she reads, waiting for some reaction. Now, remember, I'm not supposed to be here or get involved. So I can't do tooooo much for you. But, if you happen to have some...general kinds of questions, well...what's a little conversation between friends? he arches a mischievous eyebrow.

Alice says, "Something ain't right. The Key of Solomon is suppose to be incantations and drawings to summon and control demons." She looked at Loki, "What gives. Did you send us to the wrong scroll? Never trust..." She stopped herself for Lily's sake.

'The treasures of the Temple,' Penny had breathed in awe as she beheld the writings faintly inscribed in the corroded copper and translated via her spectacles. But for a treasure map to some of the greatest relics of antiquity, it was all remarkably tedious. With no idea which salt pit, whose house, who Matia was, and the rest, since the priests or whoever wrote it had expected to retrieve it themselves, there was no earthly way of finding it. Perhaps it had already been recovered and used, or found and seized by the Romans after all, or maybe it would never be found.

But she had to set aside her curiosity and this priceless gift to history and archaeology, and focus instead on one treasure in particular. 'Ah, here we are, the Seal of Solomon!' she announced, before going silent and reading closely.

'No harm at all.' she answered Loki lightly, looking sidelong at him and wondered if he'd known what it said all along. 'But I shall save you the trouble and try to exhaust my own knowledge first.' she added confidently, rereading the line again. Rose desert, mountain between mountains? The translation might have a step too far. Regardless, she took out her journal and reread her notes and scanned her maps, trying to narrow down the location. 'The Key is the Seal, more or less. It is the correct scroll, there is just... one more quest for us to pursue.' she sighed, starting to feel the weariness of the day, and of the whole struggle against Belial. When would it end?


OOC: A nice big 20 at last!
16:31, Today: Penny Dreadful rolled 28 using 1d20+8. Knowledge: History.

Loki gives Alice a slightly irritated look. Yes, the key is on a scroll of its own and the list tells its location, Loki says flatly. I do know what I'm doing. he mumbles grumpily.

Now Alice is confused, ”Uh, ok. So we’re going someplace else to fight more crazy natives? Are you going to whistle us up fair winds to aid us? I really thought. Well I suppose I was wrong and that is that.”

Penny had ignored the bickering between Loki and Alice while she studied the fragments of the copper scroll, her brow furrowed with concentration and urgency. '"The Seal of Solomon lies in the rose desert, thirty thousand cubits east of the city centre, in the mountain between mountains, and deep beneath the earth."' she intoned, and began to talk the problem out so the others could understand the facts, as well as just how clever she was. 'That's what it says, but who knows what it could mean. A literal translation of a vague and cryptic description, with no proper names given. It could be anywhere, but... "The mountain between mountains" – the Horns of Hattin! The twin peaks overlooking the Sea of Galilee!' Penny cried, stabbing her finger triumphantly at a map. 'One of the lesser candidates for the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.' she added solemnly.

'But the rose desert... Saladin slaughtered the Crusaders beside the Horns in 1187. One of my ancestors reported the desert sands were turned rose red by the blood of the slain Crusaders.... But that was nearly a thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple when this Copper Scroll should have been written... Perhaps the sands were already rosy before Saladin turned them crimson.' Penny decided, for that long-deceased Baron Darkmoor had been no zealous crusader, nor given to poetic exaggeration. Perhaps he'd left a clue, for a granddaughter many times removed who would read his chronicle seven hundred years hence?

'And the "city" mentioned must therefore be what is now the Muslim village of Hittin, once a larger town, and formerly the site of the Canaanite city of Ziddim. That is where we must start our search.'

Alice smiled and shook her head at Penny. Penny loved attention even if she claimed not. ”Brilliant! Lets get moving then!” She put her arm in Crimwell’s and murmured to him, <yellow>”You were magnificent. I cannot wait to give you a just reward for such heroism.”<?yellow>

Loki listens to Penny with a small nod. No. That makes sense actually. You see, the copper scroll wasn't written by just anyone. My...friend, he seems to stop himself from saying something else, Metatron actually wrote the thing. Obviously he knew we'd need it, he's tricky that way. Heh. It reminds me of Bill and Ted. You know, that part with the trash can? When his future self puts the trash can on that guy's head? Oh, that's right, he shakes his head. Awesome references are wasted on you. Such a great movie too. That Keanu, he chuckles. Well, basically Metatron knows an ass ton of stuff. Even stuff that hasn't happened yet. Little nerd did us a favor putting that clue in. He turns to Emma then. Hey, Ellen is it? Emma. she corrects with mild annoyance. Sure, sure. You think you can get us to Hittin?

I don't know, she sounds flustered. I've never been there! If I had a map, maybe... A map materializes in his hands. There's your map. C'mon. I'd better watch over your shoulder, make sure you don't screw this up. It would be so much easier if I could just do it, he adds with a mutter, gesturing her to the inside of the cave where the seals are.

ooc: Ok, go ahead and finish up here. I'm going to move you to the town soon and let you rest up before your big search. People are still a bit of a mess and you'll need to repair bloodied clothes, clean yourselves up, that kind of thing. So let me know any intentions you may have when you get to the city too. Also, for time's sake, roll searches, gather infos, and spots so when we are ready to go searching, you'll be set.

Penny looked bewilderedly at Loki, and not for the first or last time, for his cultural allusions were moving beyond both her patience and the narrow cross-section of 2013 she had acquired in a few hours of television and internet browsing whilst there with Kate and the Winchester brothers. 'Excellent!' she agreed with a wry and weary grin, largely to cut him off.

'We shall all need time to recover and to treat and heal our wounds, and to resupply before we set off on another expedition into another perilous situation. I daresay we shall not get it, but we must try. I should like one night in a bed at least.' Penny noted as she collected her saw and the fragments of the Copper Scroll. What was she expected to do with this now? Put them back to be a puzzle for later archaeologists? 'And what shall we do with the scroll?'


OOC: Penny's plans are probably just as you laid out.
Gather Information 29, Search 16, Spot 24