Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori [IC]

[Penril]

Jonathan

The room is silent, but for the crackling of the fire in the grate. Tim peers nervously over your shoulder into the room, but keeps quiet.

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Stunned by the rooms grandeur and power--grander even than his dreams--Jonathan briefly lowers his head in a prayer of thanks to the Omnipotence.

Divine Weaver of Patterns, I thank you for your magnanimity. I, your humble servant, shall serve you with all the secrets that You are willing to reveal. Omnipotent Other, I am forever Yours.

Recovering, Langston quietly crosses the room and pokes open the door besides the fireplace, peering inside.

Spoiler

Show

Move Silently (d20+1)[8]

[Penril]

Jonathan

As you peer through the door, you catch a glimpse of and equally grander room to the one you were in. However, before you can take in any more, you sense a rush of movement infront of you and suddenly a man appears as if he had dropped out of the sky! He growls and tries to shove his way past you.

((Roll Initiative, then choose whether to move out of the man's way or block him. Should you choose to block him, make a Dex or Str check {whichever is higher} FYI, behind you, the door out to the corridor is open and not blocked by Tim, he is by one of the chairs at the moment))

[Diakos]

Rhowan

Dropping the timepiece he was working on, a surprised Rhowan turns to face the stranger, while small gears and springs scatter across the shop floor.
Reaching under the counter to (again) check that the Tranter is in it's place, Rhowan locks gazes with the man.
"No I am not. I am Mr. Delvin th' watchmaker, an' this is my shop.
If you tell me your business with Mr. Goldsmith I'll show you to him, otherwise i suggest you leave!"
After a second of silence Rhowan looks over the man and sighs
"Sorry about bein' so brash, but with yeh crashing through th' door I a moment thought you a robber, and nearly cut yeh time short"

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Spoiler

Show

Init (d20+1)[11]
Dex (d20+1)[14]

I'm blocking.

Startled by the apparition, Langston instinctively flinches back before courage returns and he, foolishly, attempts to prevent the thief's escape.

[Penril]

Rhowan

The man is clearly in a hurry, he walks quickly across the room towards you, pocketing the trinket and saying "Where is he?! Is he okay?! His life is in danger, I have to warn him!" You can see the real worry on his face, whatever is going on, it's certainly very serious. Under his soaking overcoat he is dressed in a shirt and black waistcoat. His necktie is hanging loosly around his neck. His suit trousers are soaked with the rain and his old, but clearly hardwearing pair of black shoes squelch loudly.

[Penril]

Jonathan

The man's legs taggle in your cane as he tries to shove past you and he falls at your feet with a howl. Only now do you realise that he has some sort of short blade strapped to his wrist and you have narrowly avoided a serious injury.

Spoiler

Show

Initiative order = Bad Guy, Jonathan, Tim

As the man hits the ground, he tugs a pistol from his coat with a free hand points it at you. "Let us out and I won't have to blow ya' away!" he snarls from his prone position and he starts to get to his feet.

[Diakos]

"In danger?... Third floor, Black door, stairs back there.
Oh! you might want to knock, he's already got a guest, some young lady"
Having said that Rhowan begins looking over the floor, looking for the watch's innards.
"Came in not long ago, seemed quite urgent"

[Penril]

Rhowan

The man is already at the stairs before you finish your sentence but stops suddenly and turns back to you, a look of horror on his face. "Dear God, no! I'm too late! They put her away for good this time, for sure! It wasn't suposed to happen like this!" he pauses now and looks very worried, then appears to make a decision. "You say you have a gun? Follow me, I imagine we're going to need it." He turns away from you and bounds up the stairs, two at a time.

[Diakos]

Rhowan

"Put her away?.. Oh, Bloody hell!"
Rhowan rushes to the counter and picks up the Tranter, then throws a quick glance to the door, but ignores it and rushes up the stairs after the man
"GOD! Why me? Fire, Robbers and now this... CAC CAPAILL!"
As he rushers up the stairs his cane furiously thumps the steps.
"Go hifreann leat! Bloody stairs!"

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Raising his hands in a non-threatening manner, Langston tried to calm the gentleman down.

"Now sir, that's hardly necessary. I was simply coming to read a book, hardly the sort of thing one should shoot a brother over. Besides, I'll have you know, there are senior members of our Order waiting outside. Any rash actions could have consequences."

Spoiler

Show

Sense Motive (d20+5)[12]
Bluff (d20+2)[20]

[roninkelt]

Artur

Artur

The curator’s office is full of books and artefacts and paperwork, piled on every surface, including the floor. A single gas lamp offers meagre illumination to the scene. You don't immediately see anyone, but a voice behind a pile of books ahead of you says "Ah, you must be the fellow from down stairs, come in, please" The voice has a strong, northern accent. You pick your way around teetering piles of books and old paintings to the other side of the desk, where you see a small man, hunched over the desk and peering intently at a shard of pottery. The man is bald and round, wears an old shirt and crumpled tie and small round glasses. He looks up at you and smiles warmly. "Always pleased to meet a fellow historian, Nigel Barkley," he says, shaking your hand "and which of my curios would you like to examine, sir?"

"Herr Barkley, the pleasure is mine.

I have heard that you have documents dating from the Moorish conquest of Nubia. The ones I'm looking for refer to the location of a lost settlement in the deserts west of the upper nile and north of the trade route between Khartoum and N'Djamena."

Artur will pull a sketch map of the region from his brief as well as another with the names of the documents written in arabic.

[Dustfinger]

Chester

*I get to the library out of breath and peer around. I have a bad feeling about this.*

Spoiler

Show

(d20+1)[18]
If the "something" that is about to happen is threatening, I will draw my gun.

[Penril]

Rhowan

You make your way up the stairs and find the damp stranger standing outside the big, black door. He presses an ear up against it and the turns back to you. "Please, don't shoot to kill. No matter what happens, please, I can save her" his voice is heavy with emotion. He turns away and kicks the door open. The corridor beyond is dark, very dark. As you try to penetrate the inky blackness, you realise that this is not like normal absence of light, but an eerie, tangible darkness, thick and enveloping. Felix swallows and disappears into the gloom.

((roll a Sanity check please))

Mr Langston

"Our Order?" the thief spits "I don't care about your stinkin' Order. All I care about is getting out of here and getting paid!" You immediately see through his bravado and the quaver in his voice suggests he believes that back up is on the way. "Still, let's see your buddies catch me now!" he cries as he turns and runs back through the room to a small window on the opposite wall. Your heart leaps into your throat as you realise what this mad man is about to do! ...

Artur

"Ah, a most interesting subject, yes, we have plenty of source material on this era. A lot of it is very new. Why, we had an expedition return only a fortnight ago from North Africa. All their documents are in the boxes in the back, the other archives are on the shelves under reference ..." he rifles through a heap of loose paper on his desk "Ah yes, 23:7A, that's the forth set of shelves I believe, all in the back." He points to a small door behind him.

((During your hunt for useful info, roll a Research check and add +4 given your extensive resources))

Chester

The silence of the street is broken by a crash coming from above! You see a figure leaping through the air from a broken window, 2 storeys up. As he sails through the air, he seems to fade away, like some sort of apparition. As you follow the likely trajectory you hear a groan and the figure appears suddenly on the high wall that borders the library, then tumbles to the wet ground some 80ft ahead of you.

((Roll initiative Chester))

Mr Langston

You dash over to the broken window and see the figure on the pavement beyond the wall, some twenty feet below. He looks to still be alive and is struggling to get to his feet.

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Langston rushes over to the window and shouts out, Stop that man! He's a thief!

Spoiler

Show

Btw, Penril, I didn't mind the 'Jonathan'. I just thought the 'Mr. Langston' seemed stuffier. More towards Mr. Norrell than Jonathan Strange.

[Diakos]

((Sanity check (1d100)[3]))

[Penril]

Rhowan

Sanity loss: (1d4)[2] Your very soul seems to darken as you step into the corridor. As you pass the threshold, darkness envelops you and no light from the stairs penetrates the upper floor. You can just about make out the shape of the corridor in the gloom ahead.

[roninkelt]

Artur

Research - (1d20+8)[13]

Artur has found that this particular settlement was destroyed by fearful locals during the chaos of the invasions. Supposedly there was a cave complex under the salt pans where a sect had hidden its artifacts. Artur is hoping to find the caves, the settlement and artifacts, but right now is just after the location of the settlement.

[Dustfinger]

Chester

Sir, stop in the name of the law. Please put your hands on your head and get on the ground now. I do not want to have to shoot you sir.

Chester points his gun at the man and hustles towards him.

Spoiler

Show

(d20-1)[5]

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Alright Mr. Chalice, the police should have things under control now. Close up our chambers, I'll go out and talk to the detective.

Turning to leave Langston adds, "Oh, by the by, could you set aside book Q17:47 for me please? I'll take a look at it once this unforutunate incident is cleared up."

So saying, he calmly heads leaves the hidden chambers and heads towards the front door.

[Diakos]

Rhowan

Surrounded by the unnatural darkness Rhowan loses some of his previous determination, but steadies himself, takes a tighter grip on the revolver and presses on through the dark mire.
Mumbling some half-legible curses to suppress a growing feeling of drowning in the darkness
"Damnú! What is with this? It's not natural! "
Increasing his pace to get through the hallway as fast as he can, but without making unnecessary noise, Rhowan does his best to avoid tripping over potential obstacles

[Machiavelli]

Languidly lying on a divan in his apartment, James Miller stares blankly at the nervous shifting dockhand before him. The remnants of hours of drinking and chain smoking littering the persian carpet around him. He inspects his nails casually, berating the man before him with little interest.
So, Mr. John Haym, according to your report, a Simon Kissinger will arrive on an unknown American ocean liner, in London, at which dock you don't know, on a date that you don't know on a time you don't know. The only thing that you do know is that he will arrive sometime in the next two weeks. You don't know what his business is, whether or not he is alone, or who he is meeting. It's a pity I've already paid you. I don't blame you for trying to earn money on the side and I applaud you for managing to discover what you did, but this really doesn't help me at all. Oh well, be on your way.

Miller gestures towards the door in dismissal and walks off to his study to read a letter from another contact.

[Penril]

Artur

You find the location of a series of caves detailed in the notes from the recent expedition to the region, although the findings are not inspiring. The caves were found by chance, when one of the explorers fell through a weak point in the roof of one of the caverns. It appears that the team found the caves to have been looted by a platoon of Italian soldiers during the War, however, what they were doing there and where they went are not detailed. There are comments of a few pieces of equipment left behind as well as, chillingly, a few corpses.

Chester

((Make a Spot check))

The figure gets to his feet, slowly and tosses a gun and a knife into the middle of the street, some 10ft away from him. He puts his right hand behind his head, his left appears damaged by the fall and he struggles to lift it.

Jonathan

You leave the assistant to his duties and make your way out, however, before you leave, something catches your eye.

((Spot check please.))

Rhowan

You are beginning to get the feeling that these rooms are laid out in the same way as your own. As you pass one threshold, you hear a sound coming from within. Inside, you can make out three shadowy forms. The sounds coming from within may be voices, but in this gloom, they sound muted, as though you were immersed in water.

((Listen check and Initiative please))

James

((Introduce yourself on the OOC thread at some point please.))

The letter from the second contact is somewhat more inspiring, but not without its own complications. It would appear that the man you have tapped for infomation was on the payroll of one Mr S Kissinger, to amend the shipping rosters to make it look like the man was coming to London. Fortunately for you, your pocketbook is somewhat weightier than your enemy's. You learn that Simon Kissinger and an entourage of 5 others (names you do not recognise) docked into Liverpool this very morning!

[Diakos]

Rhowan

((Initiative: (1d20+1)[3]))
((Listen: (1d20+3)[14]))

[Penril]

Rhowan

You can vaguely make out the idea of words being shouted but by whom and where you do not know. The nearest shadowy figure to you is standing in the same position your damp friend was when he burst into your shop, the furthest shadow appears to be very much smaller than the others, or possibly crouching and the third, the largest and most detailed shadow (even to the point where you can almost make out tiny points of blue light where eyes would be), stands in between the two, gesturing with wispy appendages.

((make a Will save and a Sanity check and your actions for this round of combat please.))

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Spoiler

Show

Spot (d20+2)[13]

[Penril]

Jonathan

On the carpet by the door, you notice a crumpled piece of paper. It must have fallen out of the thief's pocket when you tripped him up. You smooth out the sheet, and read a handwritten note:

Richard,

Book reference: R1:47. Use the ring to ensure there are no witnesses,

Dr S.

The only other piece for infomation you glean from the page is that this paper has come from a series of pre-headed sheets. There, plain as day on the top of the paper in fine black print is an address.


Ashworth Mental Hospital
Parkbourn,
Maghull,
Liverpool,
Merseyside,
L31 1HW

[Diakos]

Rhowan

((Will: (1d20+4)[12]))
((Sanity: (1d100)[70]))
I walk into the room cautiously, whilst keeping a firm grip my cane and keeping the revolver along my side in a prepared and (hopefully) non-threatening manner.
If time allows, I attempt to get into a position where my view/distance to the figures is approximately equal ((like so, with the X'es being the figures and the * being me))
X

X___*

X

[Lepre_Khan]

Mr. Langston

Spoiler

Show

Ok, I know I said I'd wait for others to post first but I figure this is so minor it doesn't matter. Feel free to disregard though.

Pocketing the paper, Langston continues on towards the front door.

[Penril]

Rhowan

As you move into position, the shadows around you seem to melt slowly away into nothingness and the room returns to some sort of normality, leaving you with a strange sense of the unreal. Were the shadows real? Where did they come from? What could have caused such a phenomenon?

The room is lit by a ceiling light, but the bulb is barely illuminating the room, as if it were starved of electricity. To your left, as you assumed, is the stranger and you see Mr Goldsmith lying on the floor to your right, not moving. In front of you stands Valerie, but she looks vastly different to the weak girl you met before. She stands up straight, in a threatening posture and you can sense the power and authority she commands. He eyes are glazed black and from her mouth speak numerous child-like voices speaking as one. "It was him! He did it all along and you knew! Why did you not tell us?! Why?! You will pay for the suffering we have had to endure because of your selfish attachment to this vessel!!" She finishes with a series of high-pitched shrieks and evokes a mass of black tentacles that engulf the stranger, threatening to crush the life from him. He attempts to cry out but the air is squeezed from his lungs. He looks pleadingly towards you before he slips into unconsciousness and the talisman falls from his hand.

Jonathan

((It will take you 5 rounds to reach the street from where you are so it's okay by me matey.))