Veil of Smog, Chapter 1

[Izzarra]

Yume Tsukiyomi Kitsune Shrine Maiden Conditions: None

Yume arrives a little early by jumping from tree to tree then changes into her human form and sits on the topmost flimsy little branch of a hemlock as though she was no heavier then a sparrow.

[Charybdis1618]

Loukas is already there, heaving a plastic-wrapped package as wide across as his shoulders from the back of an ATV. He is wearing what appears to be a kevlar motorcycle jumpsuit, printed with a forest camouflage pattern.Turning around, he calls "You're early. Mind giving me a ... wait, how are you ... no matter. That will be answered in a bit. Mind giving me a hand with this?"

[Xihirli]

Leif takes the bus.
He jogs after that, apparently unarmed, to the location and spots Loukas struggling with a package. Leif hops over and helps carry it.
"Where do you want it?" He asks the Cassandra Truth.

[MechaAce]

The Shroud arrives in a van marked with the water and power utility's logo and has pulled the shroud over her face before parking. "So far, so good" she says to the others as Lief wrestles the large package into position. She opens the back of the van, giving a glimpse of a motorcycle and a lot of gun racks, pulling out a soft-sided rifle case and then a more compact box. "Let's take a look around first" she goes on, revealing the box to have a quadcopter drone. After unfolding the rotors, she starts piloting it with her phone, sending it forward towards the middle of the quarry.

[Charybdis1618]

Leif takes the bus.
He jogs after that, apparently unarmed, to the location and spots Loukas struggling with a package. Leif hops over and helps carry it.
"Where do you want it?" He asks the Cassandra Truth.

"Right in the middle of the stone. Yeah, there is fine. Thanks. One second, while I..."

He hastily unties the rope around it, and pulls away the bottom section of plastic. When Leif sets it down, he pulls the plastic away entirely, revealing a pyramidal wrought-iron statue. It seems mostly hollow, its sides defined by curling patterns of vine and leaf. An orb resembling a flower bud marks the apex. He does not acknowledge the drone at all.

[Esprit15]

As the Shroud unfolds the quadcopter, a familiar voice speaks up from the van. ”You train with all of these?” Right behind her, Sarah can be seen having appeared out of nowhere. She stares at a couple of guns on the gun rack. Suddenly the woman is holding a (thankfully magazineless) M16 and looking down the sights. “Так вот о чем говорил Виктор…” she says in perfect Russian. “Он намного легче его винтовка Мосина…” There’s a very faint fondness in her voice as she seems to get lost in thought for a second.

In another moment the gun is back on the shelf and she’s looking at an M1911. “C’est si petite, mais si lourde… beurk.” The slide can be heard but the woman seems to disappear in a blur of motion and the gun is replaced back on its shelf. ”Elle a besoin de l’huile… et je préfère le tir à l’arc.” In another moment she’s standing in front of Shroud, inspecting a 40mm grenade. “Parce que c'est plus silencieux qu'un silencieux de pistolet, n‘est pas?” Every movement, the woman seems to blink from place to place. In the van. At the gun rack. Looking at the bike. Outside by Shroud.

Today the woman’s outfit is much less formal than the clothes at the restaurant. A grey T-shirt with a blood drive logo, some black capri pants, and a set of ratty looking running shoes. She again has her composite bow and a quiver of arrows of every material - wood, carbon, fiberglass, and just as many different styles of fletching. Over her shoulder she also has a hiking bag that seems rather full.

Spoiler: Translations - Russian

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”So this is what Victor was talking about…”

“It’s much lighter than his Mosin.”

Spoiler: Translations - French

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”It’s so tiny but so heavy. Yuck.”

”It needs some oil… and I prefer archery.”

“Because it’s quieter than a pistol silencer, wouldn’t you say?”

[MechaAce]

As the Shroud unfolds the quadcopter, a familiar voice speaks up from the van. ”You train with all of these?” Right behind her, Sarah can be seen having appeared out of nowhere. She stares at a couple of guns on the gun rack. Suddenly the woman is holding a (thankfully magazineless) M16 and looking down the sights. “Так вот о чем говорил Виктор…” she says in perfect Russian. “Он намного легче его винтовка Мосина…” There’s a very faint fondness in her voice as she seems to get lost in thought for a second.

In another moment the gun is back on the shelf and she’s looking at an M1911. “C’est si petite, mais si lourde… beurk.” The slide can be heard but the woman seems to disappear in a blur of motion and the gun is replaced back on its shelf. ”Elle a besoin de l’huile… et je préfère le tir à l’arc.” In another moment she’s standing in front of Shroud, inspecting a 40mm grenade. “Parce que c'est plus silencieux qu'un silencieux de pistolet, n‘est pas?” Every movement, the woman seems to blink from place to place. In the van. At the gun rack. Looking at the bike. Outside by Shroud.

Today the woman’s outfit is much less formal than the clothes at the restaurant. A grey T-shirt with a blood drive logo, some black capri pants, and a set of ratty looking running shoes. She again has her composite bow and a quiver of arrows of every material - wood, carbon, fiberglass, and just as many different styles of fletching. Over her shoulder she also has a hiking bag that seems rather full.

Spoiler: Translations - Russian

Show

”So this is what Victor was talking about…”

“It’s much lighter than his Mosin.”

Spoiler: Translations - French

Show

”It’s so tiny but so heavy. Yuck.”

”It needs some oil… and I prefer archery.”

“Because it’s quieter than a pistol silencer, wouldn’t you say?”

Even with a loose mask hanging over her face, one can tell the Shroud is scowling for a moment. But she takes a breath and lets it out. A team is always better than a lone soldier and that's one thing she doesn't have.

Fiona didn't go to the Defense Language Institute, alas, but every special forces soldier picks up a few useful phrases, so she responds. "Bière s'il vous plaît."

"Since you're curious..." She puts her hands in her coat pockets and opens it wide, revealing a veritable arsenal in pockets and loops on the inside of the coat, holding a sawed-off grenade launcher, a large, curved knife, various hand and 40mm grenades, magazines of various sizes, a Camelback tube and some tools that are harder to quantify. A pistol is strapped to her thigh and a SMG hangs under her right arm in some sort of harness rig. She's wearing a kevlar vest, cargo pants and, it seems, a khaki T-shirt.

"Would you like to compare results then?" she asks, pointing at her bow before putting the drone on hover. She puts down the gun case and unzips it, revealing an M110 sniper rifle, likewise without a magazine in the well. After a moment's hesitation, she offers it up for inspection. "One of these, at 500 yards?" She's produced a water bottle from one of her pockets.

Spoiler: Translations - French

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Beer, please.

[Xihirli]

Leif doesn't seem to notice the drone. He sets down the... pyramid and backs off. He's wearing what was probably once a more blue T-shirt, but has been worn out by repeat wearings and washings.
He knocks on the pyramid and listens for the hollow sound of the iron.
"Erm... what is this?" He asks Loukas.

[Charybdis1618]

"I'll explain fully when Rufus gets here. Suffice for now to say it will serve for demonstration purposes. Would you please let those two know before they blow something up?"

[Esprit15]

Sarah looks at Shroud as though the woman asked her to sprout wings from her ears. “It’s a bow. I’m a decent shot but an accurate shot at that distance is beyond me. Or anyone else that you ever meet.”

She turns and begins walking toward the others. About a second later, the water bottle is ripped from Shroud’s hands as five arrows carry it off, none so much as grazing her hand. Sarah stands about two hundred feet away, another arrow knocked in her bow, and a mischievous grin on her face.

[Batcathat]

The taxi stopped at quite a distance from the group and Rufus Walcraft got out, again with cane in one hand and doctor's bag in the other. After sending the car away, he strolled over to the people by the ATV.

"Good morning." His eyes briefly swept over everyone present, pausing briefly on the hovering drone before finally resting on the statue.

"If you'll excuse me", he said, tapping his cane against the ground and a large, leather armchair appeared next to him. Comfortable looking, if rather worn, it was an exact replica of his favorite chair from the library of Walcraft House. He sat down, grunting in comfort. "Old legs", he explained, placing his cane across the body parts in question.

[MechaAce]

Sarah looks at Shroud as though the woman asked her to sprout wings from her ears. “It’s a bow. I’m a decent shot but an accurate shot at that distance is beyond me. Or anyone else that you ever meet.”

She turns and begins walking toward the others. About a second later, the water bottle is ripped from Shroud’s hands as five arrows carry it off, none so much as grazing her hand. Sarah stands about two hundred feet away, another arrow knocked in her bow, and a mischievous grin on her face.

The Shroud is a cool customer and doesn't even flinch as her hand is suddenly empty. That tingle on the back of her neck that tells her she's about to be shot didn't go off. "Neat trick" she says, the blank white eyes narrowing some. "But that's still only 70 yards. The right tool for the right job." She nods her head towards the sniper rifle sitting atop its case.

Rufus arriving and summoning up a chair draws her attention, letting the "competition" go for the moment. "I wouldn't get too comfortable, I suspect something's going to come at us from out of that thing." She gestures towards the large pyramid. "He didn't invite us up for a run-of-the-mill corporate team-building retreat."

[Charybdis1618]

"The camping trip can come later. I know a good river. For now, we are here for a bit of show and tell. To build an effective team, you need to know who you are, what makes you tick, and what you can do."

He kicks the pyramid with one boot. It doesn't clunk like wrought iron should, but rings like a church bell. The air above it shimmers and coagulates into an oblong vertical mass, translucent and faintly gray. Two smaller masses separate from its sides. Two holes open near its uppermost point, jet-black and vacuous. They seem to stare at each of you in turn.

"These are the spirits that served as messengers, and violated the sanctity of all your homes. Why don't you show us all how you feel about it. I'll go first."

[Charybdis1618]

The spirit drifts away towards the edge of the stone slab. Loukas produces a modern carbon-fiber hunting bow from the back of the ATV, and slings a canvas quiver over his shoulder. He draws a very mundane broadhead arrow, draws, and fires. It sticks between the spirit's eyes.

"By the blessing of Artemis, I am a very good shot."

He draws a second arrow and fires. It bursts into flame halfway across the stone, and tears a fist-sized hole through the spirit's torso.

"A deadly shot."

He slings the bow over his shoulder, and gestures to the pyramid. "I assembled and enchanted this myself. By the blessing of Hephaestus, I can make manifest the machinations of the supernatural. Simple, by your reckoning, Rufus, but sturdy, you would agree?"

"However," he continues, "As you know, magic can be fickle. It has a way of failing at the moment you need it most." A gunshot echoes off the quarry wall, and the spirit fades away. "The blessing of Smith and Wesson."

(It's a Model 19, for the one of you that cares.)

"Who wants to go next? Leif?"

[Xihirli]

"What? I can't punch smoke," Leif says. "Unless you want me to break the machine? Would that even work?"

[Izzarra]

Yume Tsukiyomi Kitsune Shrine Maiden Conditions: None

When she hears the sound of a drone flying in Yume vanishes from sight and hops down to a stronger, more discreet branch.

[Charybdis1618]

Another spirit coagulates, and drifts out to one side about eight feet off the ground.

"Just try it. Show us what you can do. Ask it to attack, if you want."

[Esprit15]

"As I said before, a gun is quite noisy. And ammo doesn't come cheap. A good archer though?" She gives the arrow a twirl, knocks it, and as soon as she lets go there is a ring of twelve arrows embedded into the ground in a perfectly even circle around her. "We're always armed. And a gun is too slow for me. I'd be waiting ages for the hammer to swing, the round to go down the barrel, the springs to take the recoil, the feed to give me another bullet... I could fire two arrows for every step in the process. For me, this is the right tool for the job."

As quickly as they were loosed into the earth, the arrows are gathered up, as are the arrows from the water bottle, as Sarah joins Loukas and the others.

"It reacted to an arrow and a bullet. They probably have at least a little texture," the woman says reassuringly to Lief. She looks closely at the spirits that Loukas had restrained. What were these things?

Spoiler: DM

Show

More importantly, are they things she could affect with any of her counter magic?

[Xihirli]

Leif watches the spirit. "Alright, but this doesn't feel right." He steps up with his fists already moving, three of them landing inside of the spirit, though he had no idea it would even work.
Think I can punch you, Grandmother?

Spoiler: PUNCH!

Show

I will use All-Out-Attack to decrease my defenses by 5 and increase my attack by 5.
(1d20+15)[22] to hit, DC should improve from Multiattack on a single target, +2 for two degrees of success, and +5 for three or more. Naturally this will modify my standard DC of uh... 13? Cuz I have 3 ranks in everything?
19 to hit.
Multiattack 3. Linked Penetrating 3, Nullify Regen 3. Reversible.

[MechaAce]

"The right tool for the right job" the Shroud says after Loukas demonstrates bow, magic arrow and .357 magnum.

"As I said before, a gun is quite noisy. And ammo doesn't come cheap. A good archer though?" She gives the arrow a twirl, knocks it, and as soon as she lets go there is a ring of twelve arrows embedded into the ground in a perfectly even circle around her. "We're always armed. And a gun is too slow for me. I'd be waiting ages for the hammer to swing, the round to go down the barrel, the springs to take the recoil, the feed to give me another bullet... I could fire two arrows for every step in the process. For me, this is the right tool for the job."

As quickly as they were loosed into the earth, the arrows are gathered up, as are the arrows from the water bottle, as Sarah joins Loukas and the others.

"It reacted to an arrow and a bullet. They probably have at least a little texture," the woman says reassuringly to Lief. She looks closely at the spirits that Loukas had restrained. What were these things?

“'No matter what a well-trained person does, he never appears hurried'” the Shroud quotes, invoking the Book of Five Rings. She too heads over to where the target spirits are manifesting. "But it's the warrior that makes the weapon dangerous. "You're shooting that bow with your mojo and it works. Well."

[Charybdis1618]

"Well, I suppose I can't ask a time manipulator to not be hasty," Loukas sighs. "That's what she can do, I suppose. Well done, Leif. I suspect there's more than main strength at play here. And please don't break the machine. It took a month to forge."

When you struck the spirit, it felt tangible. Not quite solid, but not pure smoke. It was a sensation like moving upstream against a strong river current, with the substance yielding only grudgingly. You suspect that you could block a blow from one such, were you to make the effort.

[Xihirli]

"I'm TRYING, it's just not doing anything because I'm punching ghosts."
Leif sticks a hand through the spirit.

Spoiler

Show

I assume that means a 19 does not hit?

[Charybdis1618]

"Look."

There is a visible dent in the surface of the material, right where you struck it last. It swings one arm-like growth at you, like a clumsy haymaker. You block instinctively, and you deflect the limb. It felt like the stream of a hose for a split second.

"Not purely mundane force, is it? That's why the Fates called you, rather than a boxer I could find at any gym."

[Xihirli]

"Still not sold on the whole fate thing." Leif backs away from the spirits.

"Who's up next?"

[Esprit15]

“It’s far from all I can do,” she calls over to the man.

[Charybdis1618]

"We'll get to you. Yume, you've been quiet. How about you go?"

[Izzarra]

Yume Tsukiyomi Kitsune Shrine Maiden Conditions: None

Yume hops down from the tree and approaches with only a faintest rustle of gravel from her footsteps to give away her presence.
Not knowing who had launched the drone, and not wanting to be caught on tape regardless of who ever has the drone, she is a bit suspicious.
The others hear her disembodied voice "We are being watched."

[Charybdis1618]

"We are. I assume our Shrouded friend is making a recording of what transpires here. She will probably analyze the video in excruciating detail later. The woods are friendly."

To Shroud, he adds "I would be interested to see how much of this shows up on the footage. I know from experience that the spirits don't."

[MechaAce]

"We are. I assume our Shrouded friend is making a recording of what transpires here. She will probably analyze the video in excruciating detail later. The woods are friendly."

To Shroud, he adds "I would be interested to see how much of this shows up on the footage. I know from experience that the spirits don't."

The Shroud dips her chin and produces her cellphone (which is in a military-grade case), turning it to show an overhead view from the drone. "Yes, among other reasons.. But if you wish" she says to Yume "The footage won't leave this quarry."

[Izzarra]

Yume Tsukiyomi Kitsune Shrine Maiden Conditions: None

"Yes, among other reasons.. But if you wish" she says to Yume "The footage won't leave this quarry."

"Make an oath to the Supreme Deities."