In reply to Inquisitor (msg # 520):

In the first time you have known him Titus cries audibly in pain as he sinks to a knee.

[Endurance fail]

He tries to raggedly move towards the light and regain his feet.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:16, Tue 11 June 2019.

Ciryl pushes himself to his feet and begins limping after the three way Melee with the demon, "It's no use, you can't win," he shouts at the combatants, "You might as well give up and lie down to die." To Titus and the Inquisitor the words sound strangely without enthusiasm or sincerity.  To Jack, however, the words ring true to his situation.  Despite his apparent dominance of Titus on the battlefield he finds himself wholly unsettled.

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 522):

Brennan snorts sleepily, though his brow furrows with agitation.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 523):

Jack swirls across Titus like smoke, but turns his glowing eyes toward the Inquisitor.

"Now you, holy man!" he hisses.  Jack is so fast that you have difficulty following his motions, but the Inquisitor grunts and you see the front of his red armor is splashed with red.

The Inquisitor's blade half falls, half swings, catching Jack only slightly.

As Ciryl steps forward, Jack's attention focuses on the old man, eyes glowing brighter and widening in confusion.

"What are?" he stands still for a moment.


Jack's ember-tinged grin goes suddenly wide and askew and for an instant, he has a clearly defined shape: a thin man with emaciated limbs wrapped in scraps of fetid cloth.

Quickly, he fades back into darkness, but the light in his eyes is somewhat dimmed.

He hisses horribly, and makes to slip back into the shadows.

COMBAT ROUND

Jack is being very obvious about trying to escape.

Titus is unconscious and horribly wounded.

The Inquisitor is wounded, but you cannot tell how badly.

Jack is one move away from a darkened alley, unless you can stop him or bring a light toward him.

Brennan continues to snooze across the intersection.  Ciryl stands in the middle of it.

Ciryl rushes to the nearby hanging lamp and, retrieving it, hobbles toward Titus's downed form to inspect the damage.  This does happen to draw the light closer to Jack as well, which he may or may not appreciate.

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 525):

Brennan shifts in his "sleep"...

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 526):

Jack hisses as the light approaches.

In reply to GM (msg # 527):

Titus lies on the ground, looking heroic even in defeat.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 528):

Jack quickly backpedals from Ciryl and the Inquisitor, though half the time he seems to be fixing his beady eyes on something you cannot see.

The Inquisitor, moving somewhat slower now, feints high and comes down on Jack from the side.  Claws skitter across steel as Jack somehow manages to catch the blade.

"Keep up with the light," the Inquisitor urges, throwing his weight into trying to pull back his sword.  Metal screeches against metal, sending back sparks that look to be coming from Jack's fingers.

There is a crunching sound, and a wave of heat as a row of embers materialize on the ground, blocking your forward progress (this will require a Coordination check to pass without hurting yourself).


Jack howls, a strange mix of crackling flame and dying wolf, and once again shudders into visibility.  The tattered cloths that wrap his limbs appear to be showing signs of unraveling, particularly across his chest and where the Inquisitor's blade touches his hands.

COMBAT ROUND

Titus and Brennan are down.

The Inquisitor engages Jack in melee on the other side of a barrier of searing hot coals from Ciryl, who carries the only light.

In reply to GM (msg # 529):

Titus stirs slightly as he bleeds out on the ground... his breath is shallow and causes slight disturbances in the ground.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:18, Tue 18 June 2019.

"Oh aye, on it," Ciryl says in a distracted tone.  He holds the lamp toward the inquisitor but before daring the line of embers he kneels next to Titus, sets the lantern down and starts pawing through his belongings just as well as Brennan's.

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 531):

Brennan rolls and snorts a bit in his "sleep".
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Fri 21 June 2019.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 532):

Jack continues to back off, albeit somewhat slower than you have seen him move in the past.

The Inquisitor accepts the lantern from Ciryl and swings deftly with his other hand.

The blade just barely catches Jack across the arm, making a sound like scissors through dry parchment.  Jack uses the attack as an opening to sink low and rake sharp fingernails across the inquisitor's thigh.  Whatever armor he was wearing does nothing to mitigate this.

"You... must... pursue..." the Inquisitor rasps

Ciryl bends over Titus's prone, bloody form.


Brennan continues to rest while you all work.


COMBAT ROUND

The Inquisitor engages Jack a few paces down the dark street, the lamp in the Inquisitor's hand the only light source there.

Across a line of smoking coals, Ciryl is bent over Titus.

Further back, Brennan rests his weary eyes.

Ciryl rises from Titus's Still form and looks at the melee still ongoing.  He raises one hand, holding up a dagger, "You said I'd get a boon for killing him.  That's the deal.  You demons are bound by your bargains, right?" His voice waivers as he holds the dagger up high over his head as if to throw it across the line of vicious embers.

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 534):

Brennan's eyes snap open and he sits bolt-right with a gasp. Sweat beads across his brow and he seems more than a little winded.

"Damn it all. We've got to finish him," he murmurs, preparing to stand.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 535):

The Inquisitor's movements are slowing visibly, but he continues to press the attack.

In reply to Inquisitor (msg # 536):

"No boon while this fool breathes!" Jack roars as the Inquisitor bears down on him.

The Inquisitor makes several surgical strikes with one hand while holding the lamp aloft, but the strength is clearly fading from his blows.  One slices through just to the side of Jack's glowing eyes, and the burning grin goes sour.

"Miserable motherless abomination..." Jack hisses.

His face shifts suddenly and shadowy claws wrap around the Inquisitor's throat.  Blood tinges the white facemask.

The Inquisitor makes no sound, but his arms begin to lower slowly to the ground, sword and lantern suddenly very heavy.

COMBAT ROUND

While maintaining deadly grip on the Inquisitor's throat, Jack reaches with free hand toward the lantern...

In reply to GM (msg # 537):

Despite the fact he is entirely motionless Titus looks as if he is struggling to rise.

"I accept your terms!  Lord inquisitor, hold your breath!" Ciryl declares before reeling back and hurling the knife.  The blade flies at the pair but rather than sinking into the inquisitor's exposed back the tip of the knife meets the twisted, glowing face of the demon

((10,3,6,9,6: 2x6 to throw the knife in a headshot.))

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 539):

Brennan hauls himself to his feet and charges toward the demon and Inquisitor, lunging for the lantern...

Body+Athletics: 2x4
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Sat 06 July 2019.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 540):

The Inquisitor does his best to remain conscious.

In reply to Inquisitor (msg # 541):

Titus continues to bleed, heroically.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 542):

The knife sings through the air and catches Jack square between the eyes.  Stunned, he releases the Inquisitor, who slumps over to one side.

Just in time, Brennan bounds across the barrier of cinders and catches the lantern by the handle.

He stands, holding it aloft while Jack staggers backward.

Moving with quick jerky movements, Jack attempts to get further down the dark alley.  His great speed seems to have left him, however, and for each halting step he makes, Brennan matches with one of his own, keeping the light on the creature.

The longer this keeps up, the more 'solid' he becomes until collapsed before you on the dirt lies a spindly being wrapped in filthy strips of cloth.

Ciryl is able to catch up and behold the last moments of Springheel Jack, collapsed now into nothing but empty bits.

END COMBAT

Titus and the Inquisitor are unconscious and bleeding profusely.  Jack, as far as you can tell, is destroyed.

In reply to GM (msg # 543):

Titus almost looks like he is asleep...

Ciryl looks breathlessly at Jack's remains, then at Brennan, silence hanging heavy in the air.  Then with a gasp he is all movement and noise, "My cart!  Go to my cart, there are surgical supplies in there.  Or else some fishing line if you can get it faster.  Call for any help you can, Titus got patched up by someone else before, right?  Go, Quickly!"  He hobbles forward to retrieve the knife that slew the demon before hurrying back to the Inquisitor to examine his wounds.

((how bad are they and are they worse that Titus's?  Ciryl will medicine whoever's worse with a 2x9, but it might take time since all I've got is a sharp knife and glue.))